Erasing epilepsy stigma: eight key messages.

Historically, epilepsy has been ignored by the public health community, despite the fact that there are more than 2 million people with epilepsy in the United States. Although epilepsy affects 1 in 26 people during their lifetime, the general public lacks basic knowledge and holds misperceptions about epilepsy that contribute to its associated stigma. Consequently, people with epilepsy continue to fare poorly, with lower physical, mental, and social well-being.

Research implications of the Institute of Medicine Report, Epilepsy Across the Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding.

In March 2012 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released the report, Epilepsy Across The Spectrum: Promoting Health and Understanding. This report examined the public health dimensions of the epilepsies with a focus on the following four areas: public health surveillance and data collection and integration; population and public health research; health policy, health care, and human services; and education for providers, people with epilepsy and their families, and the public. The report provided recommendations and research priorities for future work in the field of epilepsy that relate to increasing the power of data on epilepsy; prevention of epilepsy; improving health care for people with epilepsy; improving health professional education about epilepsy; improving quality of life for people with epilepsy; improving education about epilepsy for people with epilepsy and families; and raising public awareness about epilepsy.

Effects of a television drama about environmental exposure to toxic substances.

Objective: This study assessed short-term outcomes of viewing an episode of a prime-time television drama in which a child developed cancer after environmental exposure to an illegal pesticide. The study explored the effects among viewers of feeling transported into a narrative world.

Methods: Respondents (n = 2,139) to a post-episode Internet panel survey were asked if they had seen the show and asked questions about their demographic information, their frequency of viewing the television show, the degree to which they had felt transported into a narrative world created by the drama, and their knowledge and beliefs about the health effects of environmental exposure.

The impact of a primetime cancer storyline: from individual knowledge and behavioral intentions to policy-level changes.

We assessed the educational impact of a primetime network TV storyline that addressed cancer patient navigators. An online survey was administered after the episode aired. Exposed respondents saw the episode (n = 336); unexposed respondents did not (n = 211).

Entertainment-education in a media-saturated environment: examining the impact of single and multiple exposures to breast cancer storylines on two popular medical dramas.

In the United States, entertainment-education (E-E) initiatives in primetime television that provide public health information are at risk for diminished impact due to the media-saturated environment in which they must compete. One strategy to overcome this limitation is to use multiple primetime TV shows to reinforce similar health messages in multiple storylines. The current study explores such an approach by evaluating the impact of two separate breast cancer genetics storylines featured on two different TV programs as the result of outreach to writers and producers.

Evaluating a Minor Storyline on ER About Teen Obesity, Hypertension, and 5 A Day.

This study evaluates the effects of an ER (NBC) storyline about teen obesity, hypertension, and 5 A Day on knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The storyline depicted an African American teen who presented at the emergency room with burns from a workplace injury. Upon diagnosis, the teen was discovered to have hypertension and counseled to eat more fruits and vegetables and get more exercise.

Does entertainment-education work with Latinos in the United States? Identification and the effects of a telenovela breast cancer storyline.

This article examines the proposition that a popular form of entertainment, the telenovela, can educate Spanish-speaking viewers in the United States if accurate health information is presented in a dramatic, narrative format. Health professionals consulted on a breast cancer storyline in a Spanish-language telenovela, Ladrón de Corazones, and the impact on viewers' knowledge and behavioral intentions were assessed using three methods. First, an analysis of call attempts to 1-800-4-CANCER demonstrated a significant increase in calls when a PSA featuring the number aired during the program.

Association between exposure to an HIV story line in The Bold and the Beautiful and HIV-related stigma in Botswana.

HIV stigma militates against prevention and care efforts and is a significant problem in sub-Saharan Africa. During 2001-2003, after collaboration with CDC scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the television drama The Bold and the Beautiful aired an HIV-related story line. The story line involved a man who tested positive for HIV, was accepted by his HIV-negative fiancée, and with her, adopted an AIDS orphan in Africa.

Embedding health messages into entertainment television: effect on gay men's response to a syphilis outbreak.

The entertainment education (EE) approach seeks to impact audiences' health behavior by embedding messages in mass media productions, storylines, and characters that appeal strongly to them. Effect on behavioral intentions was examined following a storyline about syphilis in men who have sex with men (MSM) presented in a popular dramatic series. Five hundred and one MSM drawn from gay Internet chat rooms completed the questionnaire.