Overview

The CDC recognizes the power of popular entertainment in shaping the perceptions and practices of its viewers. Television shows, movies, and music not only command the attention of their audiences, but also reinforce existing behavior, demonstrate new behavior, and affect audience emotions. The CDC often partners with Hollywood executives and academic, public health, and advocacy organizations to share information with writers and producers about the nation's pressing health issues.

The CDC Entertainment Education Program works in partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S) at the University of Southern California's Norman Lear Center to provide expert consultation, education and resources for writers and producers who develop scripts with health storylines and information.

Popular entertainment provides an ideal outlet for sharing health information and affecting behavior. We are interested in providing information that covers a variety of topics including violence against women, suicide, lead poisoning, hospital infection, bioterrorism, youth health issues, HIV/AIDS and much more. Knowing that 88 percent of people in America learn about health issues from television, we believe that prime time and daytime television programs, movies, talk shows and more, are great outlets for our health messages. In May, 2000, the Office of Communication at the CDC convened an expert panel of fourteen mass communication scholars to develop a research agenda for entertainment education. In May 2003, a second panel will recommend a research agenda that addresses the impact of entertainment storylines on multicultural audiences, i.e. Hispanics and African Americans.

Not only is television an effective outlet, but in some cases it speaks directly to the audiences that we most want to reach - those at greatest risk for preventable diseases. In fact, findings in a 1999 Healthstyles Survey indicated that regular viewers of soap operas reported more health concerns than individuals who do not watch soap operas. These findings led to the development of the CDC Sentinel for Health Award for Daytime Drama in October 1999. This award recognizes the exemplary portrayal of health issues in television soap operas.

CDC awarded "Viki's Breast Cancer," from ABC's One Life to Live the first-ever Sentinel for Health Award for Daytime Drama in 2000. In 2001, Hollywood, Health & Society partnered with CDC to recognize "Raul's Diabetes" from CBS's The Young and The Restless, and in 2002, to "Tony's HIV" from CBS's The Bold and The Beautiful was recognized as the winner. The diabetes storyline generated scores of letters from viewers who said the storyline helped them or a loved one to recognize early signs of the disease and to receive a diagnosis and treatment. The HIV storyline contributed to the largest spike in callers to the CDC's national AIDS hotline for the entire year, when an 800-number Public Service announcement aired with the key character, Tony. In 2003, the Sentinel for Health Award was awarded to The Young and the Restless for "Neil's Alcoholism."

Resources for TV Writers and Producers

The Sentinel for Health Award for Daytime Drama is just one example of how we use entertainment to educate people about public health concerns that affect their daily lives. Through the Hollywood, Health & Society program, public health and medical experts offer expert consultation, education and resources for writers and producers who develop scripts with health storylines and information.

Tip Sheets for TV Writers and Producers

Tip Sheets for TV Writers and Producers contain easy-to-use, credible information on the nation's most pressing health issues and topics of interest to writers. Each tip sheet includes a description of who's at risk, typical symptoms, prevention messages, case examples, and a list of other resources. Over 130 tip sheets are currently in development at Hollywood, Health & Society, with many of these already available online. The broad range of topics includes skin cancer, sudden infant death syndrome, smallpox, and antibiotic resistance.

Story Consultation

Hollywood, Health & Society staff hold meetings with the creators of TV shows and network campaigns, conduct expert briefings for writers, and respond to inquiries for health information. The meetings inform network and show staff about the full range of services that are available to them, including everything from calls for factual information to visits by CDC experts who have national responsibility for health issues. Experts can answer questions in person, by telephone or through e-mail correspondence. Program staff can arrange expert briefings for an entire writing staff of a TV show; set up one-on-one conversations between a producer and a health expert to explore storyline possibilities; and identify real people who deal with health issues first-hand, on a personal, professional or community level.

Panel Discussions

Expert panel discussions are planned with organizations like the Writers Guild of America, west and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to examine the implications of dramatizing critical public health topics in entertainment programming. CDC officials and other health experts talk about difficult public health issues such as bioterrorism, youth risk behavior, the uninsured, mental health and more. Entertainment professionals who have grappled with these topics discuss the challenges and responsibilities they face when bringing them to the screen.

Research on Audience Effects and Needs

CDC and USC staff collaborate on research efforts to measure the impact of TV shows and other entertainment formats on audiences. National surveys have shown that daytime and prime time viewers pay attention to the health information in TV shows, learn from it, act on it, and share the information with others. A recent study of hotline callers who responded to a public service announcement during a health storyline suggests similar findings. Current projects include analysis of national survey data to interpret the impact of Spanish-language media on Hispanic audiences, monitoring 30-plus TV shows that are popular among Hispanic, African American and general audiences for health content, and assessing the impact of a prime time TV storyline on syphilis.

For additional information, contact:

Vicki Beck, Director
Hollywood, Health & Society

Mandy Shaivitz, Project Manager
Hollywood, Health & Society