Dementia in Media Coverage: A Comparative Analysis of Two Online Newspapers across Time

Rahman, Atiqur; Lo, Chih Hung; Jahan, Yasmin

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910539

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…We derived 30 latent topics related to dementia from the posts by evaluating the 983,039 dementia-related Weibo posts and reviewing prior research on social media discussions of dementia [42][43][44][45][46]. Table 2 provides the 30 topics and top 10 unique keywords for each topic (a native Chinese-speaking researcher translated the words into English).…”

Section: Dementia Topics and Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Discourse and Sentiment Toward Dementia on Chinese Social Media: Machine Learning Analysis of Weibo Posts

Kong¹,

Chen²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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Background Dementia is a global public health priority due to rapid growth of the aging population. As China has the world’s largest population with dementia, this debilitating disease has created tremendous challenges for older adults, family caregivers, and health care systems on the mainland nationwide. However, public awareness and knowledge of the disease remain limited in Chinese society. Objective This study examines online public discourse and sentiment toward dementia among the Chinese public on a leading Chinese social media platform Weibo. Specifically, this study aims to (1) assess and examine public discourse and sentiment toward dementia among the Chinese public, (2) determine the extent to which dementia-related discourse and sentiment vary among different user groups (ie, government, journalists/news media, scientists/experts, and the general public), and (3) characterize temporal trends in public discourse and sentiment toward dementia among different user groups in China over the past decade. Methods In total, 983,039 original dementia-related posts published by 347,599 unique users between 2010 and 2021, together with their user information, were analyzed. Machine learning analytical techniques, including topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and semantic network analyses, were used to identify salient themes/topics and their variations across different user groups (ie, government, journalists/news media, scientists/experts, and the general public). Results Topic modeling results revealed that symptoms, prevention, and social support are the most prevalent dementia-related themes on Weibo. Posts about dementia policy/advocacy have been increasing in volume since 2018. Raising awareness is the least discussed topic over time. Sentiment analysis indicated that Weibo users generally attach negative attitudes/emotions to dementia, with the general public holding a more negative attitude than other user groups. Conclusions Overall, dementia has received greater public attention on social media since 2018. In particular, discussions related to dementia advocacy and policy are gaining momentum in China. However, disparaging language is still used to describe dementia in China; therefore, a nationwide initiative is needed to alter the public discourse on dementia. The results contribute to previous research by providing a macrolevel understanding of the Chinese public’s discourse and attitudes toward dementia, which is essential for building national education and policy initiatives to create a dementia-friendly society. Our findings indicate that dementia is associated with negative sentiments, and symptoms and prevention dominate public discourse. The development of strategies to address unfavorable perceptions of dementia requires policy and public health attention. The results further reveal that an urgent need exists to increase public knowledge about dementia. Social media platforms potentially could be leveraged for future dementia education interventions to increase dementia awareness and promote positive attitudes.

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Section: Dementia Topics and Themesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public Discourse and Sentiment Toward Dementia on Chinese Social Media: Machine Learning Analysis of Weibo Posts

Kong¹,

Chen²,

Zhang³

et al. 2022

J Med Internet Res

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“…In 2011, for example, U.S. preacher and former contender for the Republican presidential nomination Pat Robertson declared on his television program that it was morally acceptable to divorce a spouse suffering from Alzheimer's disease because the disease was akin to a kind of death (Eckholm, 2011). Up until today, traces of the pertinent notions, comparisons, and assimilations of dementia, dying, and death can be found frequently in print and online media discourses as well as in movies and literary fiction (Kleinke, 2022;Sm-Rahman et al, 2021;Low & Purwaningrum, 2020).…”

Section: Background: the "Zombification" Of People With Dementiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Death in Advance? A critique of the “Zombification” of people with dementia

Schweda

Jongsma

2022

HPLS

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This contribution sets out to criticize the prominent metaphor of “death while alive” in the context of dementia. We first explain the historical origin and development as well as the philosophical premises of the image. We then take a closer look at its implications for understanding dementia and societal attitudes and behaviours towards those affected. In doing so, we adopt a life course perspective that seeks to account for the ethical significance of the temporal extension and structure of human life. According to this perspective, individual existence in time is characterized by normative standards of age-appropriate behavior, evaluative standards of a good life, and teleological notions of successful development which require theoretical analysis and ethical discussion. Such a perspective can contribute significantly to spelling out the implications of the metaphor of death while alive and to criticizing their problematic aspects. Indeed, it makes clear that this metaphor aligns dementia with a different point in the human life course, thus ultimately framing it as a kind of deviation from the biographical norm, a disruption in an assumed temporal order of existence. At the same time, the life course perspective can help to understand why this conception involves ethically problematic distortions and blind spots. The resulting considerations allow conclusions with regard to medical and care ethical debates about self-determination, surrogate decision making, and advance directives in the context of dementia. Furthermore, on a theoretical-conceptual level, they also illustrate the importance of a biography- and culture-sensitive approach to philosophical and ethical reasoning in biomedicine and the life sciences.

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“…Recognising the potential significance of news media as a critical communicator for health behaviour change, studies have been reporting how some crucial epidemiological topics are portrayed through different media channels. These topics include diet-related health issues [44], mental illness [45,46], COVID-19 [47] and general public health [48]. Therefore, it is important to explore how sustainable/plantbased diets have been portrayed in Australian news media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Australian News Media Portrayals of Sustainable and Plant-Based Diets

Ronto,

Alves Lopes,

Bogueva

et al. 2024

Nutrients

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(1) Background: Dietary behaviour transformation is imperative for the attainment of more sustainable food systems, including an increased intake of plant-based foods and lower consumption of red meat and highly processed foods. The influence of news media coverage on public opinion regarding dietary behaviours is significant. Therefore, this study aimed to explore how sustainable/plant-based diets have been portrayed in Australian news media. (2) Methods: The Factiva global news database was used to search news articles published in Australia between 2018 and 2020. Relevant news articles were selected if they included keywords relating to sustainable diets, plant-based diets, and meat alternatives. We used a coding protocol to extract key information, such as date of publication, article topic, and any health, environmental and economic impacts. Then, we performed a framing and thematic analysis of the data. (3) Results: From 357 included articles, more than half of the articles encouraged increasing the intake of plant-based foods (53.5%) and reducing animal-derived food intake (55.2%). Several reasons for such shift from animal protein centric Australian diets were identified throughout the articles such as health benefits (15.4%), environmental impacts (11.2%), animal welfare (4.8%), seasonality and local food intake (5.3%), avoiding overconsumption (4.5%) and food wastage (4.5%). (4) Conclusions: The predominant frame in Australian news coverage about sustainable diets has been about consumption, more plant- and less animal-based products, with little nuance about the complex interplay of diet quality and environment in influencing food choices. Australian news media should broaden its coverage of sustainable diets to include health, environmental, and economic factors to improve public understanding and facilitate informed and sustainable food choices. Further research is needed to enhance comprehension of how the audience perceives media coverage on this topic, which will provide a more thorough understanding.

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Dementia in Media Coverage: A Comparative Analysis of Two Online Newspapers across Time

Cited by 5 publications

References 71 publications

Public Discourse and Sentiment Toward Dementia on Chinese Social Media: Machine Learning Analysis of Weibo Posts

Public Discourse and Sentiment Toward Dementia on Chinese Social Media: Machine Learning Analysis of Weibo Posts

Death in Advance? A critique of the “Zombification” of people with dementia

Exploring Australian News Media Portrayals of Sustainable and Plant-Based Diets

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