Crisis and Emergency Risk Messaging in Mass Media News Stories: Is the Public Getting the Information They Need to Protect Their Health?

The mass media provide an important channel for delivering crisis and emergency risk information to the public. We conducted a content analysis of 369 newspaper and television broadcast stories covering natural disaster and foodborne outbreak events and coded for seven best practices in crisis and emergency risk messaging. On average, slightly less than two (1.

Mass media health communication campaigns combined with health-related product distribution: a community guide systematic review.

Context: Health communication campaigns including mass media and health-related product distribution have been used to reduce mortality and morbidity through behavior change. The intervention is defined as having two core components reflecting two social marketing principles: (1) promoting behavior change through multiple communication channels, one being mass media, and (2) distributing a free or reduced-price product that facilitates adoption and maintenance of healthy behavior change, sustains cessation of harmful behaviors, or protects against behavior-related disease or injury.

Evidence Acquisition: Using methods previously developed for the Community Guide, a systematic review (search period, January 1980-December 2009) was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of health communication campaigns that use multiple channels, including mass media, and distribute health-related products.

Is there health out there in the afrosphere? An analysis of health-related content posted by black bloggers.

We explored the extent to which Blacks use online blogs to communicate health information. We content analyzed blogs' main pages for: health-related text, badges, subject lists, and tag clouds. Half of the blogs possessed one of the aforementioned items referencing or depicting health.

Health information-seeking behaviors, health indicators, and health risks.

Objectives: We examined how different types of health information-seeking behaviors (HISBs)-no use, illness information only, wellness information only, and illness and wellness information combined-are associated with health risk factors and health indicators to determine possible motives for health information seeking.

Methods: A sample of 559 Seattle-Tacoma area adults completed an Internet-based survey in summer 2006. The survey assessed types of HISB, physical and mental health indicators, health risks, and several covariates.

Audience reactions and receptivity to HIV prevention message concepts for people living with HIV.

This study measured audience reactions and receptivity to five draft HIV prevention messages developed for people living with HIV (PLWH) to inform future HIV message choice and audience targeting decisions. Our premise was that message concepts that receive wide audience appeal constitute a strong starting point for designing future HIV prevention messages, program activities, and health communication and marketing campaigns for PLWH. The majority of participants indicated agreement with evaluative statements that expressed favorable attitudes toward all five of the message concepts we evaluated.

Health-risk correlates of video-game playing among adults.

Background: Although considerable research suggests that health-risk factors vary as a function of video-game playing among young people, direct evidence of such linkages among adults is lacking.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to distinguish adult video-game players from nonplayers on the basis of personal and environmental factors. It was hypothesized that adults who play video games, compared to nonplayers, would evidence poorer perceptions of their health, greater reliance on Internet-facilitated social support, more extensive media use, and higher BMI.

Profiling characteristics of internet medical information users.

Objective: The Internet's potential to bolster health promotion and disease prevention efforts has attracted considerable attention. Existing research leaves two things unclear, however: the prevalence of online health and medical information seeking and the distinguishing characteristics of individuals who seek that information.

Design: This study seeks to clarify and extend the knowledge base concerning health and medical information use online by profiling adults using Internet medical information (IMI).

Looking to the future of new media in health marketing: deriving propositions based on traditional theories.

Market trend data show that the media marketplace continues to rapidly evolve. Recent research shows that substantial portions of the U.S.

HIV-positive patients' discussion of alcohol use with their HIV primary care providers.

Objectives: We investigated the prevalence of HIV-positive patients discussing alcohol use with their HIV primary care providers and factors associated with these discussions.

Methods: We recruited 1225 adult participants from 10 HIV care clinics in three large US cities from May 2004 to 2005. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the associations between self-reported rates of discussion of alcohol use with HIV primary care providers in the past 12 months and the CAGE screening measure of problem drinking and sociodemographic variables.

Factors associated with sexual risk behavior among persons living with HIV: gender and sexual identity group differences.

Factors associated with HIV transmission risk may differ between subgroups of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). This study examined such factors in a sample of PLWHA recruited in 3 US metropolitan areas. Sexually active participants were categorized as gay or bisexual men (GBM) (n = 545), heterosexual men (HSM, n = 223), or women (n = 214).

Decisional balance, perceived risk and HIV testing practices.

Improving our understanding of how individuals decide to take an HIV test is essential for designing effective programs to increase testing. This paper assesses the relationship of decisional balance and perceived risk to HIV testing history in a cross-sectional community sample of 1523 HIV-negative men and women at risk due to drug use or sexual behavior. We developed scales to measure perceived advantages (pros) and perceived disadvantages (cons) of taking an HIV test and assessed their content using factor analysis.