The Media and Public Health
Angela Roberson
Community and Public Health
Lori Bednarchik
October 12, 2009
The local and international media play a vital role as the link between health workers and the larger public. Health authorities educate and entrust the media with essential health information, which is then relayed to the public in readily accessible formats through a variety of media channels. In order to distribute information about the H1N1 virus to the public, the U.S. Government developed a training program to help the media understand the complexity of this disease so that they would be able to report about it effectively. The media helps health workers expand their audience reach, which is crucial considering the fact that face to face channels of communication often require too many human resources and reach only a small number of people in large, underserved rural areas. The media provides an important link between the rural residents and vital health information. In this paper I will discuss how major health issues and concerns are discussed through the media. It is my goal to explore if some health conditions are over and under discussed. Lastly I will talk about if what they are reporting are pressing issues and why.
The Term Paper on Agenda Setting Media Public Information
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The media is an effective way to persuade audiences to adopt new behaviors, or to remind them of critical information. Informing the public about new diseases, epidemics and where to seek help should be a main concern when reporting health conditions. They can also keep the public updated about immunization campaigns. The media can empower rural populations to fight major causes of infant mortality, diseases which can be prevented through vaccination, an immunization campaign or availability of new products or services, teach new health skills, promote new health behaviors, and increase community acceptance of health workers. For this reason it is important that the media focuses on more than one health issue or condition.
I took time to explore the health section of msnbc.com. Over the course of August to October 7, 2009, Swine Flu or the H1N1 virus has been the most reported medical issue. The reports range from the treatment of the virus to the financial burden the virus has imposed on the U.S. alone. The reports emphasize on how there has been a spike in deaths of children because of the virus. There are reports on the changes the swine flu has cause in everyday or routine activities such as communion. Although it is important that we know swine flu cases are on the rise, the media is focusing too much attention on the virus. Some people feel that the media has placed fear into the public by reporting what can be “outrageous” stories. Instead of telling the public how many children are dying from it, the media has a responsibility to report how the public can help prevent more cases. The reports should further explain the most of the mortality cases were people who had other illnesses as well. There should also be reports on how the virus was contracted in the first place. The report that talks about how the vaccine for Swine Flu may not work should not have been released until there was more research done by the reporter.
It is important that the media informs the public of the major health concerns and ways to control and prevent them. There were several stories on diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, and cancer. However, there are a fewer stories on weight, exercise and nutrition. This is one area that was not discussed as often as it should have been. When taking a look at table 2-4 in the text, (Essentials of Public Health), there should be in depth reports on how important diet and exercise is to the prevention of other health conditions that were discussed not only over several reports through this media outlet, but included on this table. The stories on tobacco, alcohol and drug addictions were few in number. These are issues that have a huge affect on the public but are not being address as often as they should. Alcohol and drunk driving is reported more around holidays, it should be reported more often. Drug addition is rarely mentioned. It is important that media outlets report on prevention as well as the condition it self. It is also important that their report includes a reference to obtain more information on the condition that is being reported.
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The medical issues indicated in table 2-4 of the text, Essentials of Public Health, are somewhat similar to the ones I researched on the MSNBC website. The media is reporting about some of the same illnesses that appeared to be a major concern in the 1990. It is important that the public is aware of growing medical concerns and issues, therefore we have to depend on the media outlets to relay this information. In fact it has been reported that if most health issues and concerns were not talked about in the media most people would not think to educate themselves or seek testing and treatment for certain conditions. As time goes on I think the health concerns will remain the same, for example, the text indicates that heart disease was the leading cause of death in 1990. MSNBC has reported extensively on the causes of heart disease and ways to prevent it. The media knows that this condition has a rising concern among the public therefore they have chosen to inform and educate the public. It is evident that the media will continue to address concerns and issues that affect the public’s health concerns.
The media is an important ally in any public health situation. It serves the role of being a source of correct information as well as an advocate for correct health behaviors. But before the media can take on that role, it needs to understand the importance of certain health issues, policy and practices, and finally, recommended correct behaviors. The media must also realize that they are the only source of information that some people have, therefore they should pay special attention to the health reports that they publish.
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Make Some Brief Notes On The Explanations Based On Families Of Why People Commit Crimes Make some brief notes on the explanations based on families of why people commit crimes. Farrington's claim (social psychological researcher) as to why people commit crimes looks at problem families. 1 st claim: criminal offenders have a syndrome, a collection of anti social dispositions. 2 nd claim: early ...
References
Bazzell, R. (2009,October 9), 76 U.S. Children Dead of Swine Flu as Cases Rise., Retrieved from, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33243503/ns/health-swine_flu/, October 9, 2009
Snyderman, N. (2009), Medical Myths That Can Kill You. Retrieved from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31388323/vp/33280748#33280748, October 7, 2009.
Turnock, B. J. (2007).
Essentials of Public Health. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlett.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032076/ns/health, Retrieved October 7,2009.
