TV Does Healthcare
Lorraine Bracco plays Dr. Jennifer Melfi, Tony’s therapist on “The Sopranos”
Today’s AlignMap post is a brief summary and critique of an especially intriguing and convincing L.A. Times article on the impressive effect TV programs have on the audience’s healthcare beliefs and behaviors.
Americans more than just believe the health information they get from fictional television shows. Spurred by what they see on shows like “ER” or “The Bold and the Beautiful,” surveys suggest, they take action. They go to the doctor. They tell a friend to have that cough checked. They ask a lover to use a condom.
If you have an interest in the power of television to influence (beneficially, in this case) viewers or improving heath literacy throughout the world, this is an important read. The article itself is lengthy but has little filler and is, from all appearances, well researched, resembling a long New Yorker essay more than a feature story in a newspaper.
The post is
TV Fiction As Public Health Instruction And Motivation
