Health Comm Chapter 11 - Textbook

Body Image

- Pathologizing the human body: we are repeatedly warned that skin, weight, breath, etc. are problem areas that need immediate attention at a price; making natural functions seem weird and unnatural

News Coverage

-1 in 12 stories on local news focuses on health -Americans have access to more health info than ever before in form of websites, news, entertainment, educational program -criticism of health news: in the rush to provide the latest info, media professionals sometimes oversell scientific findings and overlook ongoing, everday concerns

Tobacco

-1994 - 46 states entered an agreement w/tobacco industry that included restriction on the number and placement of their ads (MSA) -Master Settlement Agreement bans ads on public transit systems, TV, movies; limits billboards placement; tries to shield youth -magazine ads are increasing in sexually suggestive images & are becoming mire directed to youth -rely on implicit marketing efforts cause they can't explicitly state that smoking has health benefits (more so after MSA)

Alcohol

-5,000 underage drinkers die/year -risk of drinking problems later in life is 5x greater for those who start drinking before 15 rather than 21 -alcoholic beverage ads outnumber responsible drinking PSAs at least 22:1 -teens picked alcoholic beverage commercials as favorite super bowl commercial 3 of 5 times -youth were exposed to 71% more alcohol ads in '09 than '01 -more alcohol ads are aired during times when youth will see/hear them, and African American youth see more

Health Effects

-90% of American Women w/in a normal weight range wish they were thinner -ll mill American suffer from eating disorders -parents' preoccupation with their weight influences children ->1mill Americans abuse steroids; average steroid abuser is white, 30, highly educated & employed

Advertising effects on Nutrition

-Heavy TV viewing is linked to obesity -ppll burn few calories while watching TV; have a tendency to snack while watching; commercials usually encourage non-nutritious foods -commercials can distort ppl's knowledge of nutrition

Impact of Persuasive Entertainment/social adaption theory

-SAT - people evaluate messages by considering how useful the info is likely to be in their lives -some theorists think that media images affect the way ppl view society, but no the way they view themselves personally -entertainment may have an edge over news b/c ppl think entertainment portrayals are more relevant to their lives than news -with some exceptions, PP seem to do no more than increase brand-name recognition -underlying power dynamic of some education-entertainment programs serve funding entity rather than target community -- cultural hegemony; not focusing on larger systemic issues

theoretical foundations: General

-We are all affected by the media to varying extents -impact is greatest if we spend a lot of time w/media and have limited personal experience w/ the phenomena we see depicted -two theories: social comparison theory & cultivation theory -what used to be considered heavy media usage is now the norm: average usage: 7.5 hours; those with time limits: 4.5 hours; heavy usage: 13 hours (bad grades, sad, get in trouble w/peers; Hispanic children)

Media Literacy

-awareness and skills that allow a person to evaluate media content in terms of what is realistic and useful -media's influence is by no means uniform

Advertising effects on children

-childhood obesity has doubled for 6-11 and tripled for 12-19 since '88 -children are exposed to average of 5,500 tv food commercials/year -children exposed to a lot of commercials will assume that diet products are more nutritious than other foods -89% of products marketed to children are unhealthy

Communication skill builder: evaluating medical claims

-don't put too much stock in the wording (drug companies try to downplay side effects) -look to print sources for detailed info (mag. ads include a more inclusive list of side effects v. tv/radio ads) -"newer" doesn't necessarily mean better

Disadvantages of DTC advertising

-expensive ads drive up price of health products ($320 billion/year) -prescription drug prices rose 26% between '05-'09 -pharma spends $58 bill/year on marketing -pharma pays physicians >$761 mill/year in consulting fees, speaking honoraria, research fees, etc. - incentive for docs to prescribe more drugs -ppl may think that high-priced drugs are better than others and drugs will cure anything that ails them, increase happiness & excitement -ppl may seek meds for wrong reasons, feel disappointed when doc doesn't prescribe, feel results are less dramatic -ads may dissuade people from taking care of themselves -drug companies pay for a lot of the side-effect research themselves (conflict of interest) -some worry that we are preoccupied with our health (almost nation of hypochondriacs) -DTC images reinforce health disparities by leaving certain groups out of their images

Communication skill builder: Presenting health news

-favor the factual over the sensational and trendy -don't allow ongoing issues to fade from coverage -never rely on just one source -set the record straight

News Coverage: Advantages of Health News

-increase people's awareness about health -helps keep health on public agenda -writers are only part of the reason why health coverage is misleading (nature of news and nature of science) -medical science can be difficult to understand and interpret; reporters aren't trained to do so -w/many sources, we can evaluate and compare info, think critically

News Coverage: Sensationalism

-media favors sensational health news like West Nile virus when common things like Flu kill more people -may over-report things; may aim stories towards different groups of people

portrayals of health care situations

-medical dramas are likely to give ppl mistaken impressions about the way medical work is done -more ppl die than real life and their are more miraculous recoveries -Marcus Welby Syndrome - depicting doctors as all-powerful and all-good -7 in 10 patients are male on tv when in reality on 4 of 10 are -Hispanic Americans and old ppl are underrepresented -presents untrue info about organ donation

Theoretical foundations: cultivation theory

-people develop beliefs about the world based on a complex array of influences, including the media -media's influence is not uniform or automatic but is most profound if: media images are HIGHLY CONSISTENT, people are exposed to LARGE AMOUNTS, these people have a LIMITED BASIS FOR EVALUATING what they see and hear -the more media you consume, the more you believe it is accurate

Theoretical foundations: social comparison theory

-people judge themselves largely in comparison to others; helps explain why people yearn to emulate the models they see in the media -can be useful when they enhance self-esteem or serve as basis for self-improvement; become dysfunctional when comparison establishes an unrealistic standard

portrayals of health-related behaviors: disablities

-perpetuates unrealistic stereotypes about ppl with physical disabilities: one-directional victim -50% of media shows ppl w/disabilities working careers, whereas only about 32% of ppl w/ disabilities are actually employed -ouch website

portrayals of health-related behaviors: mental illness and dementia

-portrayal of mentally ill as violent & dangerous -can shape public opinion towards ppl with mental health problems. ex. Monk

Eternal Hope

-ppl are hopeful when they see idealized models and are optimistic that they can attain the same look -after viewing media with thin women, F college students tended to be elated than depressed and considered them to be thinner than usual -media images make idealized body shapes seem attainable, causing an optimism that may later turn to disappointment

Entertainment-Education Programming

-producers sometimes embed subtle messages to educate/persuade ppl regarding health matters -entertainment-education - pro-social programming -Hollywood, Health & Society -Entertainment Industries Council

Activity Levels

-sedentary nature of viewing is as unhealthy as the content -kids who watch a lot of TV are more likely to smoke; may hinder social development; increases sleep deprivation (TV inhibits melatonin secretion)

Advertising: direct-to-consumer

-selling prescription drugs in public venues such as the mass media -1985 FDA ruled that pharma co's could advert. to public, but in '97, FDA relaxed rules even more to allow brand-name adverts. -"fair balance" - why it is not really fair

portrayals of health-related behaviors: sex

-sex in prime-time is slowly decreasing, but reality TV shows make up the difference -overall, proportion of programs that depict/imply sex has doubled since '97/'98 -characters talk about sex 4.6/hour and have sex twice/hour -more same-sex couples than ever before on-screen -decrease in amount of teen sex portrayed on TV -slightly fewer acts of sexual aggression -1 in 25 scenes include verbal/visual reference to safe sex methods, which is a tiny increase -safe sex is still depicted as funny and humiliating -sexual protection is considered girl's responsibility -some research says watching sex on tv may influence kids to have sex at a younger age (how realistic do they consider it to be is the deciding factor, not how much necessarily) - CAN'T PROVE CAUSALITY

News Coverage: Accuracy and Fairness

-some health stories are misleading and exaggerated -mag./newspaper coverage of scientific studies, when compared to the journals that originally published them, have numerous inaccuracies (over-generalizations, overly optimistic)

Product Placement

-sponsor pays to have product or brand name included in move, TV show, etc. (stealth ads) -subliminal advertising -FCC forbade paid PP for a time, but was loosely enforced and went out the window -Now, TV shows have to make it known (in credits) if products have been provided -PP has always been allowed in movies -sometimes used to dodge restrictions on conventional advertising -some restrictions: no tobacco ads on radio, TV, movies; ban on celebrity endorsements for tobacco; federal law requiring health warnings on all tobacco packages

Advertising effects on Obesity

-unhealthy food ads are more prevalent in media consumed by African American women and are exposed to less weight loss ads -media often cast obesity as a beauty issue rather than a serious health concern

Portrayals of health-related behaviors: violence

-violence is slowly decreasing in media, but still very prevalent -effects are unrealistic (evil ppl die, good live (happy violence); survive being shot 5 times) -violence lacks extreme consequences -men are more likely to choose programs that mirror their anger -high media users tend to feel afraid and overestimate the threat of violence in their environment

Advantages of DTC advertising

-w/o ads, people might not know about treatment options -ppl are most likely to bring up ad. medicines when they consider themselves knowledgeable about health matters (may only be 1 in 10) -discrepancy in doctor v. patient reports of requests -active competition can inspire product development -ppl put more stock in their pharmacists opinions, but there are also "me too (copycat)" drugs

Teaching Media Literacy: 3 stages

1. informative stage - participants in media lit programs learn to ID diff types of messages (persuasive, informative, entertaining); learn about strengths and limitations of various media 2. analytic stage - participants discuss their perceptions of media in general and of specific media messages w/ guidance from a trained leader - Deconstructing - a message; breaking down into specific components (key points, implied message, purpose) 3. experiential stage - challenge participants to write their own news stories, design ads, perform skits, and participate in other creative efforts to help them understand the process and demystify the way media messages are created -parental mediation - teach media lit at home to children so they understand aspects of media messages they encounter; parents should: limit media exposure; choose programs with care; watch, listen, read alongside them; discuss program content with them

Entertainment

in today's media-saturated world, education has become indistinguishable from entertainment and...popular films have an impact on beliefs, behaviors ,attitudes, and knowledge

third-person effect

most of us feel that we're not personally susceptible to persuasive messages in the media, but we think others are

Entertainomericals

sales pitches that resemble entertainment programming; ex. Joe Camal - animated character that they said wasn't meant for children, but had that effect - sales to children incresed from $6 mill/year to $476/year -children were as familiar w/Joe as Mickey

Mass communication

the dissemination of messages from one person (or one group of persons) to large numbers of people via media - TV, video games, billboards, etc - and other means of sharing info with large audiences