Many people rely on media for health related information. The significance of health related issues discussed by media is shown by the increase in the coverage which is the greatest no. of people in their audience in both electronic and print media. It depends upon the perspective of reader or viewer in deciding the actions taken by him after watching the coverage. Smoking and drinking are depicted as glamorous, motivating and heroic which attracts the youth towards it. Therefore, these advertisements were banned and anti smoking campaigns were organized to through media. This made sure that youth had a better understanding of what they are consuming.
There is a huge demand for impartial public health information by people and mass media is a very reliable source for spreading information. Public health community is very much dependent upon media for promotions and support and media is considered as the best source for spreading health information. A health content analysis is the best way to know how the media delivers health messages and how the people receive them.
Content analysis was conducted upon health related messages that appear in print and electronic media during the same time period were taken into account and observed. The media sources were randomly chosen which gave researchers an insight into involvement of media with health communication.
Delivery Methods
Health messages can be delivered through many different ways. One of them is radio,
News related to health can be a part of the regular broadcasts. These can be in form of news broadcasts and discussions at radio stations.
In California, there are many radio stations. Out of those, the researchers chose 91.7FM and randomly heard the broadcast for 1 week continuously. It was found that nearly 30-40 health related items were broadcasted each day. 20-25 of those were of some health clinics or hospitals; 7-10 were cosmetic and herbal products; 9-13 were general medicinal advertisements.7-9 was the range of health related messages for issues related to mother-child and hygiene. There were campaigns related to AIDS, immunization of children, cancer awareness anti-smoking. Therefore spreading knowledge and creating awareness among people is helpful in general public and helps them in maintaining their health.
Coverage of Information
Television is known to have great impact upon people and their opinion. It also increases their knowledge and introduces new and healthy ways of life in society. The research team took one spiritual channel, one news channel and one entertainment channel.
It was found that on an average there were 7-9 advertisements telecasted over the entertainment channel. Most of them were child immunization and mother child health care. There was a flood of advertisements related to beauty products out of which 20-22 were related female utility items; 10-12 were for health and energy drinks; 11-13 were oral health like toothpaste and toothbrush; 2-5 were related to contraceptives and 10-12 were related to baby products.
The spiritual channel is mainly listened to by aged people. There were very few advertisements and messages on this channel. The only show related to health was a home remedy show that was telecasted six times a day. The news channel that was chosen for analysis had fifteen health related advertisements in a day. Most of the advertisements were related to mother child health and flu. There was a programme from 2.00 to 2.30 in the afternoon where the doctor advised and resolved health related queries of people who called for help.
Dissemination Method
The readership of newspaper is very large as compared to any other source of news. The faith in newspapers is also higher than the other mediums because newspapers ‘report’ what happens on a daily basis without changing the actual incident reports. The newspaper chosen for this analysis was LA Times. The analysis was done for a year. The analysis during summers showed a regular chain of advertisements for health drinks and energy drinks. There were advertisements related to beauty products including sunscreens, deodorants. The analysis during winters showed that most of the advertisements were related to treatments for cough and cold. In winters there was a special health magazine that was printed along with newspaper every Thursday due to the fact that people are more prone to diseases in winters as compared to summers. In the magazine, the issues related to diseases, both common and severe were discussed by specialists. The issues included common cold to cancer. There was a special tip provided each week on the topic ‘how to keep your heart healthy’. There were 1164 letters sent to the editor are of which 16 were health related. Health news, health editorials and health features were published to maintain public interest. Magazines are another source of media for health education. There were two magazines chosen for the analysis. One of them was a women’s magazine which discussed issues related to women. In the other magazine, there was only one advertisement of a baby product. There were a couple of health related articles in the women’s magazine that discussed issues like how to stay fit in rainy season.
Conclusion
The analysis conducted was upon the messages that appeared in the print media and electronic media. The sources of the analysis were randomly chosen. It can be conclude that all different types of media provide information regarding health issues but political issues is the subject that is mostly discussed in media. The next spot belongs to the news related crime and accident. The news related to social life and culture takes up the next spot. It included many activities like Health, Science, Economy local Administration, Art and culture. However, advertisements did cover a lot of space forming the largest category in the whole year.
News related to health in our life is widely covered. There were special programmes on radio and special edition magazines were printed to create awareness. Again, advertisements related to beauty and health were took more space on television prime time when the viewership is high. The health messages were telecasted the maximum no. of times on radio then television and newspaper thus spreading knowledge and creating awareness among people. The study also showed that one-third of the health information articles in newspapers contained information that enable readers to take further actions.
Recommendations
There are some suggestions in reference to the study:
· There should be a special reporter for the coverage of different areas of development in the field. Such reporters should be specialists in their subject.
· Due to preference of majority of readers, the health messages should be published either on first page which covers mainly political news or on sports page of the newspaper.
· The health related information or messages should be telecasted more during the prime time on television as it is a medium a lot of viewers.
Works Cited
Hung, P.C.K. "Towards a privacy access control model for e-healthcare services." Proceedings of 3rd Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust. New Brunswick, n.d.
newsimproved.org. Content Analysis Guide . 30 October 2012
Røstad, L. and O. Edsburg. "A study of access control requirements for healthcare systems." Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Computer Security Applications Conference. Miami Beach, (2006). 175–186.
