Introduction
This encyclopedia entry will focus briefly on the history of how health became a part of the media, expand on the intent models and existing perspectives surrounding health in media, and compare the tools and content of different health advertisements in media from around the world, ending with a brief connection to concepts discussed in Politics of Health.
In the most basic form, health in media serves the purpose of “providing news about issues of personal and public health” in order to elicit “change in behavior” (Hinnant 2009, 691; Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). The rise of this phenomenon has been large attributed to its ability to communicate complex and immediately relevant medical knowledge to a large public audience in a quick and comprehensible manner (Hinnant 2009, 692-93). Earliest notable accounts dating back to the late 1800s, when authors like Luther Gulick and Bernarr Macfadden published in popular magazines, also align closely with the growth of a therapeutic society, one focused on finding ways to better the then current state of health and medicine (Hinnant 2009, 691). The mediums of media that are used include but are not limited to television, newspaper, magazine, internet, music and radio (Hinnant 2009, 691). For a more extensive history on health in media and journalism, particularly in the United States, refer to Amanda Hinnant’s entry on “Health and Medicine Journalism” in the Encyclopedia of Journalism.
Expanding on the purpose of health in media, there have been four recognizable ways that health has been situated within media: as a form of education, support, promotion, or supplement (Flora 1989, 183). Through an educator’s role, the media has been able to drive the health promotional campaigns of many organizations and countries (Flora 1989, 183). The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) collaboration with Kellogg Company from 1984 to 1985 to educate the public of how a high-fiber/low-fat diet achieved through Kellogg’s cereals could reduce the risk of cancer serves as a prime example (Flora 1989, 183). By employing a supporter’s role, media works to “reinforce old messages, support health changes, encourage maintenance of change, or keep health issues on public agenda” which is especially useful to behavioral-associated health issues (Flora 1989, 184). Media can also take on a promoter role by advertising products and services that can spark a change in behavior or deep-rooted problem, this being the most popularized and recognized form of health in media (Flora 1989, 184). Lastly, as a supplement, media can aid individuals and groups who are attempting to change a health behavior have positive results (Flora 1989, 185). For example, individuals hoping to cease their smoking habits have been more successful when they are constantly exposed to media that does all the above (Flora 1989, 185).
Figure 1. shows an example of how the NCI and Kellogg’s media campaign was portrayed to the public (Kellogg 1984).
Recent analysis of medicine and health in media campaigns help lay out two extensions to each of these forms of health media. Most of these health campaigns can be categorized as either direct or indirect (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). Direct campaigns spend time emphasizing risks, showcasing the social norms concerning the health behavior or disease, strengthening emotions necessary for change, and providing means of effectively changing or treating the behavior or illness to elicit “cognitive and emotional” changes (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). Indirect campaigns, however, focus on the duration of the message and the depth of the interpersonal discussion within a social network (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). In this way, the repetitive individual exposure helps motivate a movement of support or change without being overtly direct in its means of doing so (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71).
There are many more faucets of how media is framed to encompass health issues that will not be addressed in this entry. For information on health media changes to address different audiences, please refer to June Flora et. al’s piece on The Role of Media Across Four Levels of Health Promotion Intervention (1989). For an emphasis on the more specialized models of communication that drive health in media, refer to Nova Corcoran’s Theories and Models in Communicating Health Messages (2007).
Perspectives and Controversies
Proponents of health media campaigns stress the efficacy of the campaigns to induce changes that result in healthy lifestyles (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). Because of the comprehensive public exposure that media campaigns can have, people are unable to escape the targeted messages, resulting in shift toward practices that more socially pronounced and acceptable (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). The campaigns can also result in public policy changes, holistically improving the health of the society affected (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71). Even more notable is just the sheer number of people who are exposed to the comprehensible media representations compared the specialized medical journals and articles, giving more people the opportunity to improve their health and habits (Hinnant 2009, 693).
Despite the accessible and understandable nature of health in media, antagonists of this phenomenon, particularly some medical professionals and scientists, dwell on the simplistic nature of the content delivered (Seale 2003, 513-531). The simplification of medical knowledge that allows for the broad transmission of health messages through media trend to allow for inaccurate information to spread, essentially defeating the purpose of spreading this scientific knowledge (Seale 2003, 513-531). Dorothy Nelkin, former sociologist at New York University, points out how certain metaphors, particularly the war kind, that health media campaigns use can construct false images and beliefs of battle surrounding health issues (1987). Yet other studies share how media stories are crafted to generate fear or highlight modern dangers to manipulate consumers to modify their behaviors and beliefs (Seale 2003, 513-531). The large expense of media campaigns also contributes to arguments against their efficiency (Wakefield 2010, 1261-71).
Topical Context
This section of the entry will focus on three different AIDs campaigns stemming from the United States, Uganda, and Nepal to superficially examine differences that may exist among the different representations.
In the United States, because of the wide presence of the Internet and technological communication, many HIV/AIDs campaigns are built around this culture (Noar and Willoughby 2012, 945). Social media, in particular, is used to promote messages concerning safe sex practices and HIV and STI testing, in hopes of going targeting a younger audience (Noar and Willoughby 2012, 946). There are also interactive programs that incorporate the multimedia to spread knowledge on HIV risk behaviors and possible preventative measures (Noar and Willoughby 2012, 945). Even text messaging is used to provide immediate counsel for those who request it (Noar and Willoughby 2012, 945). Overall, multiple forms of high-technological media are used to share direct educational and promotional information concerning HIV/AIDs. A notable aspect of these campaigns, however, is the lack of information on what to do once infected with the disease (Noar and Willoughby 2012, 949).
Studies on how Uganda has been able to see a decline in the rate of transmission of HIV/AIDs pinpoint the artistic mediums of media (Barz 2006). Even at a young age, children are taught to “practice abstinence, be faithful, and use condoms”, using these principles of HIV prevention to sing songs and conduct plays that in turn educate the whole community (Barz 2006, 13-14, 22). The knowledge and awareness that spreads because of musical and artistic media communication foster “true social change regarding sexual health” (Barz 2006, 20). The AIDs Support Organization (TASO) further grow the artistic platforms to encompass practices of “positive living”, allowing people living with HIV to create meaningful songs and dances that help reverse the “epidemic of stigma, discrimination, blame, and denial” that otherwise haunts the community (Barz 2006, 55). Though not conventionally labeled as media, musical and other artistic campaigns address the health issue in the society through education and support both directly and indirectly in an efficient manner (Barz 2006).
Figure 2. showcases the lyrics for one of TASO’s songs exemplifying how songs are used to educate the public on how to live with HIV/AIDs (Barz 2006, 53).
In the context of Nepal’s AIDs crisis, many international organizations put into place preventative programs that hoped to address the increasing rate of HIV transmission (Pigg 2001, 481). However, the international campaign models were ineffective in their unchanged manner to tackle the Nepalian crisis due to major communicative issues and cultural barriers (Pigg 2001, 482). To note, Nepalians are not open about sexual topics, making it difficult to communicate messages concerning condom usage and HIV testing (Pigg 2001, 483). As a result, many of the existing HIV/AIDs campaigns in Nepal have had a more biomedical perspective that is distanced from the idea of sex, focusing mostly on direct and indirect educational promotion due to the previously inadequate knowledge of the premise of the disease (Pigg 2001, 488). This, paired with the other two examples, help showcase how culture and location can have a large impact on how media campaigns are constructed and received within the society.
Connection to Politics of Health
Health in the media can be weakly linked to many topics that have been covered in class; however, none of the concepts completely encompass the role and importance of these health media campaigns. Regardless, there are two ideas that should be discussed: biosociality and therapeutic citizenship.
Rabinow’s idea of biosociality focuses on how social groups are formed “bounded by the hopes, fears, fates, and politics that have been made available to sufferers on the basis of biological knowledge” (Petryna 2002, 14). This is connected to the presence of health in media because public consumers can recognize other people affected by similar campaigns and form exclusive and preventative groups as a result. However, biosociality is not limited to this sense of group formation; in fact, implications of biopower (Foucault’s intersection between life and calculation to understand the knowledge and use of human life) arise where biosociality is concerned (Petryna 2002, 13). As a result, heath in the media correlates to biosociality in terms of group formation and the evolution of preventative health care, but disconnects when biopower is incorporated due to the lack of a government directly exploiting the body. There are certain cases that may suggest that health in media serves to control the biological and physiological nature of bodies by influencing them, but it is a definite stretch.
Nguyen’s therapeutic citizenship incorporates the idea of “claims made on a global social order on the basis of a therapeutic predicament” (Nguyen 2004, 126). As a result, it encompasses the “practices, practitioners, and forms of knowledge that sufferers resort to in order to heal affliction” (Nguyen 2004, 126). This connects to health in the media in that sufferers recognize their ailment and seek therapy from the campaigns presented to treat their illness. However, health in media is not used to directly govern and manage the given population of bodies, and cannot always provide a therapy treatment due to its various representations and purposes. Though the presence of health in media is politically involved, there does not seem to be one concept that perfectly fits due the multifaceted nature of the phenomenon.
References
Barz, Gregory. 2006. Singing for Life: HIV/AIDS and Music in Uganda. New York: Taylor & Francis Group.
Corcoran, Nova. 2007. “Theories and Models in Communicating Health Messages.” In Communicating Health: Strategies for Health Promotion, 5-31. London: Sage Publications.
Flora, June A. et. al. 1989. “The Role of Media Across Four Levels of Health Promotion Intervention.” In Annual Review of Public Health (10):181-201. http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.pu.10.050189.001145
Hinnant, Amanda. 2009. “Health and Medicine Journalism.” In Encyclopedia of Journalism, 692-95. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: 10.4135/9781412972048.n183.
Nelkin, Dorothy. 1987. Selling Science: How the Press Covers Science and Technology. New York: W H Freeman and Co.
Nguyen, Vinh-Kim. 2004. “Antiretroviral, Globalism, Biopolitics, and Therapeutic Citizenship.” In Global Assemblages: Technology, Politics, and Ethics as Anthropological Problems. 124-44. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Noar, Seth H. and Jessica Fitts Willoughby. 2012. “eHealth Interventions for HIV Prevention.” In AIDSImpact, 10th International Conference Special Issue (8): 945-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540121.2012.668167
Petryna, Adriana. 2002. “Life Politics after Chernobyl.” In Life Exposed: Biological Citizens After Chernobyl. 1-33. Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Pigg, Stacy Leigh, et. al. 2001. “Languages of Sex and AIDs in Nepal: Notes on the Social Production of Commensurability.” In Society for Cultural Anthropology (4):481-541. http://www.jstor.org.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/stable/656647
Seale, Clive. 2003. “Health and Media: An Overview.” In Sociology of Health and Illness (6):513-31. DOI: 10.1111/1467-9566.t01-1-00356
Wakefield, Melanie A. et. al. 2010. “Use of Mass Media Campaigns to Change Health Behavior.” In The Lancet (376): 1261-71. DOI:10.1016/S0140-
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