 
September 17, 2008
Grey’s Anatomy Episode Boosts HIV Awareness
Researchers say that watching Grey’s Anatomy can be more than a guilty pleasure—it may actually increase viewers’ HIV/AIDS awareness and knowledge, USA Today reports.
The Kaiser Family Foundation worked with scriptwriters of the television medical drama to plant a health statistic in a May episode, in which an HIV-positive woman and her husband discover she is pregnant. The doctor tells the distraught woman that with the proper treatment, her baby has a 98 percent chance of being born without the virus.
According to the article, three random surveys were conducted to measure the impact of the message on mother-to-child transmission. Six weeks after the Grey’s Anatomy episode aired, 45 percent of viewers recalled the HIV information accurately.
“People are very hungry for information about health. Entertainment media who embed correct health information are doing a societal good,” said Linda Rosenstock, dean of the UCLA School of Public Health.
Search: Grey's Anatomy, Kaiser Family Foundation, UCLA School of Public Health
Scroll down to comment on this story.
Previous Comments:
[Go to top]
|
