The Communication Initiative
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The Communication Initiative
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Healthstyles Surveys: Television Viewers and Health Information

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Summary

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is engaged in a partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S) to analyse and report on characteristics of United States' daytime and prime time TV drama viewers, based on data from a pair of linked, national postal mail surveys administered annually since 1995 to a sample of nationally representative adults. (HealthStyles is a proprietary database product of Porter Novelli and is licensed by the CDC for audience analysis in health communication planning).

Four surveys of "regular viewers" (defined as those who watch the specific type of programme being surveyed at least twice per week) conducted annually between 1999 and 2002 are summarised, and available for download in PDF format, on the CDC website. They include:

  1. 1999 Healthstyles Survey: Soap Opera Viewers and Health Information [PDF] - conducted in July and August of 1999 with 2,636 respondents.

    Selected findings: Almost half (48%) report they learned something about diseases and how to prevent them from daytime drama storylines; more than one-third (34%) took some action as a result; and viewers seek out health information (talk to their doctor, call a hotline, make a point to read or watch media reports, etc.) more than non-viewers, but have more difficulty understanding the information they receive...
  2. 2000 Healthstyles Survey: Prime Time Viewers and Health Information [PDF] - conducted in October and November of 2000 with 2,353 respondents.

    Selected findings: Among Black women who are regular viewers, effects are very strong: Nearly two-thirds (63%) report the highest rates of all groups for learning about health from prime time shows (69% for daytime); more than half (57%) report telling someone about it, one-fifth (21%) report visiting health care places, and 14% report calling for health information after hearing about a health topic in a prime time TV show; and about one-third (34%) report telling someone to do something or did something themselves to prevent a problem after hearing about it on a daytime TV show.
  3. 2001 Healthstyles Survey: TV Drama Viewers and Health Information [PDF] - conducted in July and August of 2001 with 3,719 respondents.

    Selected findings: Women, Blacks, young adults, and those with lower income and less education consistently report watching daytime/prime time dramas more often than other groups. Over half (57%) of all regular viewers report learning something about a disease or how to prevent it from a daytime/prime time drama; Hispanic women report the highest rate (70%) of learning about health from TV dramas.
  4. 2002 Healthstyles Survey: Telenovela Viewers and Health Information - conducted in July and August of 2002 with 4,397 respondents, 466 of which were Hispanic race/ethnicity.

    Selected findings: Hispanic, lower income, lower educated, and younger age groups report more often learning something new about a health topic, taking action, making a health care choice, and providing health information to friends, family, or others after hearing about a health topic on a telenovela; 42% of respondents rate Spanish-language TV as a top source of learning about health, behind TV news/news magazine shows (48%) and health care providers (44%).

The CDC concludes that these findings (described in detail within each full document) suggest that each of these types of TV programmes "can serve a critical health education service by providing accurate, timely information about disease, injury and disability in their storylines." One reason may be that the daily (in the case of telenovelas) or weekly format of these entertainment-based TV shows allows audiences to develop familiarity with regular characters, and identification with characters they perceive to be like themselves (audience members are inclined to model desirable behaviour and avoid undesirable behavior). Writers and producers of daytime dramas might further strengthen this impact by:

  • researching and considering more health topics that have an impact on high-risk audiences
  • addressing topics that impact a lot of people (e.g. teens/smoking, women/heart disease, or children/vaccines)
  • including credible prevention information that is stated clearly and repeated in the storyline to reinforce the message
  • showing characters with negative beliefs and poor health practices suffering the consequences of their behaviour
  • showing realistic challenges and struggles these characters face in making changes, and the positive outcomes that result when they choose more positive beliefs and practices
  • including more storylines about people who have health limitations or impairment but practice healthy behaviours that contribute to their quality of life.
  • sharing prevention information delivered or modeled by credible characters (e.g. checking the smoke alarm, using a seat belt, taking a daily vitamin, getting a flu vaccine, or exercising)
  • integrating continuing storylines that explore the impact of disease, injury and disability on people's lives.

In short, entertainment-education (EE) strategies can, according to the CDC, be viable means of providing United States audiences (and particular groups within that context) with health information - and prompting them to change their behaviours accordingly.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary "1999 Porter Novelli HealthStyles Survey: Soap Opera Viewers and Health Information" on the
Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary "2000 Porter Novelli HealthStyles Survey: Prime Time Viewers and Health Information" on the
Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary "2001 Porter Novelli HealthStyles Survey: TV Drama Viewers and Health Information" on the
Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.

Click here to access a related peer-reviewed summary "2002 Porter Novelli HealthStyles Survey: Telenovela Viewers and Health Information" on the
Health e Communication website, and to participate in peer review.

Web link
to access all 4 documents on the CDC website.
Source

Norman Lear Center website; and CDC website.