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EDUTAINMENT : The Power of Entertainment and Public Health LCDR SARA WOODY 6/20/12 COF Symposium

Edutainment aka Entertainment Education (E.E.) education + entertainment First Known Use: 1973 – The act of learning through a medium that both educates and entertains

We are being educated while entertained every day but don’t think of it that way… George’s 14-year-old son, Max, is wetting the bed. Concerned, Max’s parents take him to the pediatrician where the doctor diagnoses Max with a urinary tract infection. The FBI investigated a situation where patients had received bone grafts from a donor who had terminal cancer (mesothelioma), which resulted in many of the recipients becoming sick themselves. Tony is diagnosed with HIV, but comes to terms with this diagnosis and goes on to live a full life with a new wife and child.

America loves medical dramas! Fall 2012 on Fox Just to name a few!

HOW HEALTHY IS PRIME TIME? An Analysis of Health Content in Popular Prime Time Television Programs September 2008 A Report by The Kaiser Family Foundation  During the period of the study (2004–2006) six out of every 10 (59%) episodes of the top-rated scripted shows on TV had at least one health-related storyline  If a viewer had watched every episode of the top 10 most popular shows for Nielsen’s General Audience, they would have been exposed to a total of 792 health storylines in the Spring seasons of the three years in the study!

General Audience African American Hispanic Percent Percent Percent  Symptoms  Treatment  Diagnosis  Risk Factors  Complications  Prognosis  Prevention Total number of episodes analyzed: General = 515 African American = 493 Hispanic = 486 SOURCE: Table 3: Type of health Information depicted in health storylines, 2004–2006; An Analysis of Health Content in Popular Prime Time Television Programs September 2008 A Report by The Kaiser Family Foundation What type of messages are we receiving in Medical Dramas?

HH&S and The Sentinel Award Sentinel for Health Awards recognize the exemplary achievements of the writers of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives.

Past Sentinel Award Winners 12 th Annual / 2011 award winners:  Primetime Drama: “Qualities and Difficulties,” Parenthood (NBC)  Primetime Minor Storyline: “Not Responsible,” Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 11 th Annual / 2010 award winners:  Primetime Drama: “Claudia Joy’s Diabetes,” Army Wives (Lifetime)  Primetime Minor Storyline: “Triangles,” Private Practice (ABC)

Is it working?  Organ Donation  Numb3rs episode “Harvest” (Winner 2006 Sentinel Award)  A sample of 4,473 individuals completed the survey  Non-donor viewers of Numb3rs were most likely to become a potential donor (10.3%) compared to viewers of: CSI: NY (9.8%) House storyline 1 (8.1%), House storyline 2 (3.8%) Grey’s Anatomy (3.8%)

Is it working?  Daytime television (Soaps, Telenovelas)  34% of regular daytime drama viewers report taking action after hearing about a health issue or disease on a daytime drama, men and women report about the same rate (36% vs. 34%)  Hispanics (43%) and Black (37%) report taking action more often than Whites (32%)  Hispanic women (50%) report taking action more often than both Black (36%) and White women (30%)  Black men (39%) report taking action more often than both White (36%) and Hispanic men (34%)

The big screen sparks conversation! Virus Hunter Dustin Hoffman in the 1995 movie, Outbreak

Shaping the future  National Prevention Strategy  What public health issues do you work on that could benefit from Entertainment Education?  What mediums could be a good fit for these issues?  Television, movies, games (interactive, simulation)  Where can you go for information?  CDC:  HH&S:

Back up Slides

63rd Primetime Emmys Opening

Sources:  “Motivating Television Viewers to Become Organ Donors,” The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, available from: reviewed/cases_1_08.pdf  “How Healthy Is Prime Time? An Analysis of Health Content in Popular Prime Time Television Programs,” A Report by The Kaiser Family Foundation and The USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society, September 2008, available from:  “TV Drama/Comedy Viewers and Health Information 2005 Porter Novelli HealthStyles Survey,” available from:  “Edutainment, etymology,” New World Encyclopedia, available from:  Hollywood, Health & Society website:  CDC Office of Comunciations website:  The National Prevention Strategy,