Evaluating 90210 & Public Health Interventions: My Perfect Fantasy Job

Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing is an online, open-access journal (coming out of the George Washington (GW) University School of Public Health and Health Services) which focuses exclusively on case studies from the fields of public health communication and social marketing. The journal's mission is to promote the analysis of real-world experiences and practice-oriented learning. They have recently published Volume 4 (Summer 2010) which includes several case studies focused on Entertainment Education and the work of Hollywood, Health, & Society.

Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S), is a program of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, and provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely information for health story lines. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The California Endowment, and the Health Resources and Services Administration's Division of Transplantation and Poison Control Program, the program recognizes the profound impact that entertainment media have on individual knowledge and behavior. These professionals (who totally have my perfect job!) focus on Entertainment Education (EE), which is a communication strategy that involves embedding health or social messages into entertainment programming that can influence knowledge and attitudes, and promote healthy behavior among television drama audiences. The two cases highlighted for the GW publication included a The Bold and the Beautiful (daytime soap opera) storyline which promoted bone marrow donation and a (new) 90210 (nighttime young adult soap opera) storyline which highlighted a main character with bipolar disorder.

What is really fantastic about the case descriptions (beyond the collaboration and prep work that went into creating these accurate and engaging story lines) was their discussion of how to evaluate their efforts. Evaluation is (unfortunately) sometimes an afterthought for public health interventions. Or evaluation is poorly defined as simply measuring satisfaction- "Did the viewers "like" the episode?" Despite the complexity of evaluating health communication efforts, these case studies were quite thorough. For example, with the 90210 episode, they looked not only at exposure (i.e., how many watched the episode or saw the accompanying PSA on bipolar disorder) but also at help-seeking behavior following the episode. They documented calls/contacts to their partners (e.g., SAMHSA Health Information Network and the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation (CABF). The evaluators also collected qualitative feedback from volunteers and teens who visited the CABF online chat rooms after the episode aired. "As expected, visits to the chat rooms increased shortly after the episode aired. Remarkably, traffic and participation in the chat rooms continued for months after the episode and PSAs aired".

It is always validating to see that watching TV can be more than a mind numbing couch potato activity...it can be educational and essential for shaping and measuring social norms around important health issues.

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FAQs About Acne Treatment During Pregnancy

There are so many things to consider in acne treatment during pregnancy. Many pregnant women seek out information about acne and acne treatment during pregnancy because this a common condition that develops along with their conception. The situation becomes complicated because the pregnant mom could not use just any medicines available because it might affect the baby growing inside her.

Having a perfectly clear skin before getting pregnant is not a guarantee that a woman will not develop acting during pregnancy. If however you've had the condition before, it might get worse. This usually happens in the first trimester of the pregnancy and will eventually go away after.

Here are the frequently asked questions about acne during pregnancy and acne treatment:

1. Are there ways to prevent acne during pregnancy?
NO. During pregnancy your body produces more androgenic hormones than usual that stimulates the sebaceous or oil glands in your skin to produce more oil. This usually happens in the first three months of pregnancy. Your skin will eventually clear up after this but in some cases, the presence of acne all throughout the pregnancy can be noticed.

2. What type of acne will usually develop?
The most common are cysts and pustules. White heads and black heads are also noted to propagate as well as body acne in areas where there is a heavy concentration of oil glands like the back, neck, chest, arms, shoulders and the buttocks.

3. Will it go away after childbirth?
It is a case to case basis. Every woman is different. During the first trimester, the body produces high levels of progesterone. After that the level decreases and is replaced by estrogen. The skin clears up but occasional breakout may happen. Some women go back to their usual self after two months of giving birth while others especially if it is a pre-existing condition may experience outbreaks every now and then.

4. Will the baby develop acne in his or her teens if the mother has acne during pregnancy?
NO. There is no direct link to this unless it is in the genes of either parent. There are so many factors that contribute to the development of acne.

5. What medications are safe to use for acne treatment during pregnancy?
It is best to check with your dermatologist or OB Gynecologist. NEVER self medicate! This can make the condition worse and the medications might have adverse effects on the baby. It is better to be safe than sorry.

BE SAFE! Click on the link below to get PROFESSIONAL and EFFECTIVE TIPS to deal with acne during pregnancy.

http://www.onlyacne.com

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Health Intervention Reality Shows: Are Participants Rescued or Buried Alive?

Last month I wrote on my Facebook wall "that hoarding show on TLC is both horrifying and fascinating". From the quick responses to my post, it is clear that I am not the only one feeling this way. Therefore, I was really interested in stories recently posted on the TIME website discussing how these types of shows can be harmful for the individuals that are featured.

There have been a slew of reality TV shows focused on staging interventions with individuals with a variety of mental illnesses/addictive behaviors. Some examples are "Hoarding: Buried Alive" (TLC), "Hoarders" (A & E), "Intervention" (A & E), and "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" (VH1). In one TIME article called "For Hoarders and Addicts, Drama is Trauma- Not Therapy", the author presents the argument that the needs of the mentally ill and addicts are the exact opposite of the formula of successful reality TV shows. Recovery for these individuals takes time and empathy and reality TV shows are looking for conflict and quick fixes within the hour allotted.

In all fairness (since I haven't seen all the reality shows in this category), I must say they are not all created equal. For example, A & E "Hoarders" seems to be much more of quick fix with cleaning crews clearing out houses over a two day period (which is very traumatic for the owners). In contrast, TLC's "Hoarding: Buried Alive" cleans out over a longer period and the individuals are more active participants/leaders in their own clean out. With the TIME article noting that effective clean outs for hoarding are a year on average, you have to wonder about the trauma of being confronted on camera about your "abnormal" behavior and then forced through a quick clear out. Also, the behavior of hoarding (or drinking or drug use) is usually just the tip of the ice berg, as it is a symptom of a larger problem. For example, I recently watched one episode of "Hoarders" where the woman shared that she began hoarding after surviving childhood sexual abuse. The therapist assigned to her clean out said "let's not talk about that right now". Therefore, I wonder about the long term repercussions of bringing out these emotions and not providing individuals with the support they need.

On the other hand, there could be potential positive outcomes from these individuals being featured on such a reality show. The primary outcome that I think of is access to resources. Many of the families/individuals featured are in great financial peril (often as a result of the money needed to continue with their addictions). The show is able to link them up with leading experts in their condition, offer ongoing care, assist them with legal concerns, etc. It remains to be seen whether these positives outweigh potential dangers.

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Can Foursquare get youth to "check in" to STD testing?

As technology and social networking continue to expand, it is logical to think about the connection to public health. We need to think specifically about its use among priority populations already using it- like youth. It has just been announced that Foursquare will team up with MTV for their "Get Yourself Tested" (GYT) campaign. I'll back up quickly for those that are not familiar with Foursquare. It is a mobile application that allows users to "check in" at locations in order to explore a new city, link up friends, etc. There is also a "competitive" nature to the application which offers "badges" and other titles to individuals which visit the most spots.

Foursquare and GYT have teamed up to offer the first cause-related badge for users who visit STD testing sites. The goal of offering the badge and allowing users to announce it in a public setting is to reduce the stigma of STD testing. This is a common public health strategy- to focus on reducing a specific barrier to a health behavior. In this case, planners are hoping to reduce stigma by normalizing STD testing.

The article does not mention how the program will be evaluated. It seems simple enough to track the number of people who obtain the GYT badge (which I assume is just based on self report). It would be interesting to have some kind of follow up with users to find out:

1. Why they decided to get tested (was it due to exposure to the GYT materials/foursquare badge?)

2. Was this the first time that they were tested? I.e., is this campaign actually initiating a new action among youth? Or is it only attracting youth that have already bought into this behavior?

3. Is there a certain demographic most influenced via Foursquare? How is this similar/different than the changes they are documenting using more traditional channels like PSAs/posters, etc?

I know many of my friends/followers are Foursquare users- what do you think of using the application for "causes" and other public health initiatives?

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