Get a Life, Get Active, Go Walking!

Great clip to promote walking using media and entertainment.

NBC Today - Life With Diabetes

Great media coverage of diabetes prevention.

Week 12: Popular Culture and Entertainment

Class was fun and interesting this week and I have one more “health promotion/communication tool” I can put in my tool box! We can actually use “Popular Culture and Entertainment” to spread our health message. We learned in class that entertainment contract seems to open our minds; our mindset is different when we expect to be entertained. We are more relaxed and empathic to whatever message is coming our way. The videos we viewed in class really opened my eyes on how popular movies and TV shows can be use to spread our health message. I never would have thought to use the “Simpsons” as a health communication tool to educate people on overeating and perhaps obesity. The movie clip of Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, I would have never thought of using it to teach medical providers on how “not to do CPR” and as a lead in clip on signs and symptoms of a heart attack. All of the clips we saw in class I could envisioned showing at the very beginning of a health promotion campaign to “grab” people’s attention to the message of the program. It’s a great tool; we can entertain and spread our health message at the same time. With popular culture and entertainment, we can have fun, laugh, cry, and promote health at the same time.Anyway, I hope everyone had a very happy and “full” Thanksgiving Day.

Week 11: Web 2.0, Games and Interactive Technology

Tools, tools, tools in spreading our health communication messages! I am learning so much to "think out of the box" in this class when it comes to tools I can use as a health promoter in my work place. I mean, I would have never thought that I could or can use all of this web based tools to my advantage when spreading my message. Yet, many well known agencies such as the CDC for example have already mastered this fast and ever changing communication tool. I agree that the Web or Web 2.0 is a great communication tool, it is easy, fast, and it brings people together and as a result we are better informed.
We talked about many advantages and disadvantages of Web 2.0 in class. However, the Internet or the Web is so fast when it comes to spreading information that at times it can get scary. There are so much information out there that it is important to be "choosy" about which source is credible. We talked about easy access to health information in class, "self diagnosis" and the danger of not consulting with our health care providers. I think one of the scariest services that the web offers is the ability to buy prescription medications and other types of drugs. Coming from a health care provider perspective, I just don’t think it’s safe. Check out this article at MSNBC.com, it’s about teens abusing prescription medications ordered in the Internet. Check this link out:
Teens turn to Internet for prescription drugs - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com

I think another danger with this fast and easy information in the Web is that it can start people to mobilize against a company and can ruin a company or a person's reputation in the process. Check out this link that was created as almost like a support group for dissatisfied customers and employees of Enterprise rent-a-car.
http://www.failingenterprise.com/forums/index.php

Anyway, good or bad the Web is here to stay. It's good to know that as a health promoter I can use this as a tool to use my message. Although I just learned how to blog so it might take me a few tries to be comfortable with this health communication tool.

Check out the AVIS video below, it's really funny!

new Avis / XM commercial

We were talking about car rental companies in class today and we named Avis as one of the leading car rental company. This commercial is sooo funny! Talking about framing their message to a segment of the population to the "yuppies" and younger customers! This video makes me laugh every time I see it!

Week 10: Advertising, Public Relations, & Media Advocacy

The class this week was interesting in a “weird” way. I guess I never really thought of public relations as part of health promotion, but I can see how this tool can be a powerful one in promoting health. The guest speaker actually used some techniques that I am using right for my Health Promotion Planning and Assessment class (PH666) with Dr. Koslow. She talked about developing goals that realistic, specific, measurable, tractable and time bound. Also, she mentioned community outreach, community involvement, and networking. Familiarizing ourselves with media….we need to be “media hounds”. As we have learned throughout this semester, if we use media as a tool to get our message out, we need to know the stories, know what interests them in order to successfully utilize this tool. As in “know thy self”, but instead “know thy tools”. However, I don’t know everyone else in class, but dealing with reporters or the media is a very unfamiliar territory for me and a little bit scary/intimidating. It’s a great tool to use as we have learned in class last week, but getting a few hours of lecture in class doesn’t really make me confident that I will able to navigate the world of PR and media. But as Dr. Engelberg stated in class PR and Media is just another tool we can use to spread the word of our health promotion campaigns.

Week 9: The San Diego Fire

It has been a scary week for everyone in San Diego. I cannot imagine what must go through the minds of the people who lost their homes and had to evacuate. I have not been personally affected by the fire, but I did have a friend who lives in Chula Vista and was very scared for her since the fire was so close to her home. I have to say a thousand “thank you” to our great firefighters and emergency responders, they did an outstanding job! I’m from Washington State and I’ve never seen a wildfire like this….it rains too much! I am very impressed with the people in San Diego, the volunteers, and the outpouring donations and just the kindness that this tragedy brought out. It definitely tells people not from this city that San Diegans rally together to take care of each other when tragedy strikes! The community just came together and helped those in need! People’s kindness still exists; it’s there, although I think in our every day “busy” lives we forget the act of kindness, we forget to be kind to each other.
I hope that everyone remained safe and with family through this devastating event. Watching the fire on television since Sunday, it is humbling to see what Mother Nature can do to us even with the power and technology that our country possesses. I’m hugging my daughter and my husband just a little bit more each day after this fire. My hope is that we don’t forget to help those people who are still struggling to put what is left together from this tragedy. My husband and I decided to donate money to the Red Cross; this is the only way we feel that we can help even if it is just a little bit.
Stay safe, be kind, and be hopeful, we live in a great and beautiful city!