Medical dramas as a health promotion resource—an exploratory study

Abstract

In spite of being one of the most popular broadcasts on British networks, medical dramas have received no attention from media or health communication scholars. This qualitative study, based on the views of 183 respondents, explores interpretations of the American dramaER. The results show that medical dramas are accepted as trustworthy providers of information, and that viewers do learn from them. They could prove a useful tool for the dissemination of health promotion messages. More such formative research is needed.

Exploring content of misinformation about HPV vaccine on twitter

“…However, the almost 20% that did use a narrative format were more likely to be retweeted and engaged with as compared to those that did not. Identification with characters increases emotional responses to health messages (Davin, 2000 ), as no data could alter one’s own experiences (Rodriguez, 2016 ), offering a psychological reason for the higher engagement. For some vaccine-hesitant individuals, personal experience is even more persuasive than scientific data due to the greater profoundness of the experience over scientific findings (Rodriguez, 2016 ).…”

Healthy viewing: the reception of medical narratives

“…Viewers’ attribution of pedagogic qualities to ongoing melodramas echoes the findings of health promotion campaigns in developing countries which have demonstrated their efficacy 10 . This success can be explained by the fact that they possess features known to promote learning (in addition to those cited above by informants – popularity, identification, repetition) which may be absent from large‐scale publicity campaigns (see Davin 2000 for further details and references). For example, despite occasional frightening items, serials tend to have reassuring themes:…”