Health
and Media Research Group
What
We Do: Projects
Please note: All projects
listed are funded through grants and contracts or foundation support.
Current
Projects
Caring
for California's Children
HMRG, the UCLA Center
for Public Health and Disasters, and the UCLA
Health Services Research Center have partnered with the California
Department of Health Services’ Children's Medical Services Branch
and the California
Department of Mental Health to develop, implement, and evaluate
web-based training materials for pediatricians to improve their capacity
to assess and appropriately treat the mental health needs of children
and families who have experienced a community-wide disaster or bioterrorism
event.
For information on this project, please contact Rachel Flores.
Disasters
in the Media Project
Disasters (especially bitoterrorism) have become a hot topic in the
field of public health within the last two year and public health professionals
are continuing to define the best channels for educating the public
about disaster preparedness and response. Available literature suggests
that the media (especially film and television) not only has an influence
on health-related attitudes and behaviors, it may provide an opportunity
for health education and attitude formation about different topics.
Given the possible future use of media for disaster-related education,
HMRG has developed an exploratory study by looking at how disasters
are portrayed in film and television. Results from this project will
guide future media-based disaster-related education efforts.
For more information about this project, please contact Rachel Flores.
For past and future presentations
regarding this project, please see Presentations.
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to Current Projects List
Los
Angeles County Department of Health Services Emergency Preparedness
Campaign
In conjunction with the Los
Angeles County Department of Health Services and the UCLA
Center for Public Health and Disasters, we have conducted formative
research on the issue of individual acquisition of emergency supplies
and are currently working with the county on campaign implementation
and evaluation.
For information on this project, please contact Allison
Drury.
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Pre-EMPT
(Pre-Event Message Preparation for Terrorism)
Given the real potential of terrorist threats and the fact that a large
segment of the population may be dealing with these threats for the
first time, creating clear, consistent, and action-based messages is
imperative. HMRG, in collaboration with the UCLA Center for Public Health
and Disasters and four other universities is working to research, develop,
and pre-test health related, actionable messages regarding bioterrorism
for both professional and lay audiences. These messages may be used
to quickly educate the public in the potential event of bioterrorism.
In collaboration with the Center for Public Health and Disasters, this project is being funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Association Schools of Public Health (ASPH). For more information about this project, please contact Allison Drury.
For related publications,
please see Publications.
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to Current Projects List
Pacific
Public Health Training Center
The Pacific Public Health Training Center is a joint effort of the four
California Schools of Public Health and the University of Hawaii's School
of Nursing and Dental Hygiene. The Center's goal is to develop and support
effective public health training opportunities that address community
health needs and are consistent with Healthy People 2010 objectives.
For more information on this project, please contact Kirstin
Chickering.
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Rocketdyne/Environmental
Research Group (ERG)
During the past 15 years, numerous studies have been conducted on the
chemical and radiation content of the air, water and soil on the Santa
Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) property and the surrounding area.
The UCLA Depts. Of Community Health Sciences, Epidemiology, and Environmental
Health and Engineering are working as a team to assess exposure pathways
and community risk and communicating these results to the SSFL surrounding
communities, including Simi Valley. The HMRG provides ongoing consultation
with scientific study staff for translation of scientific findings into
appropriate risk communication messages and materials. The HMRG is developing
informational materials (including a web site and newsletter) to inform
the public about the implications of the health outcomes and environmental
evaluations, as well as using media advocacy strategies to disseminate
study results.
This project is being funded by the Environmental Research Group. For further information about this project, please contact Rachel Flores.
Past
Projects
American
Lung Association, Sacramento Emigrant Trails (ALASET)
This project is an evaluation of a media advocacy program to reduce
the depiction of smoking in films and television programming. The HMRG
works with ALASET to assess overall trends, conduct key informants interviews
with Hollywood journalists. The HMRG recently developed an impact study
of an anti-smoking slide that was placed in movie theaters in California,
and an evaluation of a documentary on the film industry's response to
tobacco in film.
For more information on this project, please contact Deborah
Glik.
"And
Thou Shalt Honor", a 2-hour PBS documentary on caregiving
The HMRG was contracted with Wiland-Bell Productions and Atlantic Philanthropies
to conduct an evaluation on a 2-hour PBS documentary on caregiving,
"And Thou Shalt Honor". The
evaluation included an assessment of the nature of audience response
to the program, an assessment of whether seeing the program contributed
to any changes in knowledge or attitudes to caregiving issues, and overall
program reach and coverage.
For more information on this project, please contact Cathy
Lang.
Bioterrorism
Training and Curriculum Development Program
Bioterrorism preparedness is directly linked to comprehensive education
and training that enables first line responders including nurses, dentists,
physician, and emergency medical personnel to handle bioterrorism situations.
HMRG is participating in a unique interdisciplinary effort of professionals
from five professional schools and programs at UCLA to create an interactive,
computer-based curriculum that can be utilized by professional schools
to integrate a standard curriculum in preparedness for public health
emergencies.
For more information on this project, please contact Allison
Drury.
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Department
of Managed Care (DMHC) and Office
of the Patient Advocate (OPA)
The goal of this project is to develop a clearinghouse of consumer education
materials routinely disseminated by California HMOs to their enrollees
and to evaluate these materials for content (readability, relevance,
cultural competence, etc.), format (ease of use, clarity, audiovisual
components, etc.), access (timeliness, availability, dissemination channels,
etc.), and communication effectiveness (assessing exposure, attention,
comprehension, and retention). In addition, the HMRG is conducting a
literature review of "best practices" for effectively educating
consumers and will be convening a technical review panel to help make
recommendations about standards and guidelines for materials development.
For more information on this project, please contact Cathy
Lang.
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to Past Projects List
Diabetes
During Your Pregnancy™ - Healthy Beginnings Gestational Diabetes
Mellitus (GDM) CD-ROM
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is a form of diabetes that effects
a disproportionately high percentage of Hispanic women who are pregnant.
HMRG has worked with St.
John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Ventura County, to develop
and revise a six lesson educational CD-ROM about GDM and how to care
for it. The CD-ROM was developed to increase the effectiveness of clinical
treatment for GDM patients, especially low literacy or Spanish speaking
patients. We are in the process of completing a randomized clinical
trial (RCT) to assess the effectiveness of the CD-ROM on patient outcomes,
and are currently funded by
Southern California March of Dimes to update and upgrade the CD-ROM.
For more information on the randomized clinical trial, please contact
Deborah Glik.
For more information on the CD-ROM, please visit
the Diabetes During Your Pregnancy site [http://www.diabetesduringpregnancy.org/].
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Entertainment
Industry Education (EIE) Project: Infectious Disease Prevention in Childrens
Television Programming
In the real world, American children get about 6-8 colds a year; the
number can increase to 12 for children in school. In contrast, television
depictions regularly show children getting drenched in water, touching
each other, eating without washing their hands, handling animals, rolling
on the floor, and hanging out in germ-ridden areas without suffering
so much as a sniffle. Recognizing that children in the United States
watch an average of three to five hours of television a day, and that
television is known to influence children's perceptions and behaviors
of health-related issues, in early 2004, a content analysis was conducted
to assess infectious disease symptom and preventative care behavior
in todays top children's television programs. Behaviors related to influenza,
pertussis, pneumonia, and the common cold were tracked, as were depiction
opportunities related to food handling, object sharing, physical contact,
the environment, weather and attire, and instances where immunization
and health care issues could be addressed. In Spring 2004, study findings
were presented to children's television creators and executives at an
entertainment education briefing at the Academy of Television Arts and
Sciences. The event, which included experts in infectious disease, disease
prevention, and psychology, highlighted the need for more conscientious
depictions of infectious disease control themes in childrens media,
and explored children's understanding of health and illness. It also
launched HMRG’s health prevention recognition award, presented
to writer/producer Steven Banks for his The Adventures of Jimmy
Neutron: Boy Genius Journey to the Center of Carl episode. This
project is funded by the California
Department of Health Services Immunization Branch.
For more information on this project, please contact Rachel Flores.
Immunization
Project
This project involves formative and summative research support for a
number of ongoing immunization campaigns and initiatives carried out
by the Immunization Branch of the California Department of Health Services.
It includes evaluation of a movie slide campaign for hepatitis B, a
campaign for flu shots, and an update of a school curriculum we created
for young adolescents called Immunization Plus.
For more information on this project, please contact Allison
Drury.
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Media
Campaign to Prevent Alcohol Use During Pregnancy
This project includes the development, implementation, and evaluation
of a narrowcast campaign that warns women, age 18 to 35, about the dangers
of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. HMRG partnered with community-based
organizations (INMED, MotherNet L.A. and the Southern California March
of Dimes) to create and implement a targeted print campaign for African
American, Latina and Caucasian women in Compton, Bakersfield, and San
Bernardino.
Two bilingual campaigns were created. Print materials (posters, take-one cards, and t-shirts) were used to “saturate” specific neighborhoods over a 12 month period in our target locations. Long Beach served as a comparison location. The impact evaluation of the campaign is currently underway.
Additional activities for this project include developing a manual for conducting narrowcast campaigns and conducting an observational study on alcohol advertising in Compton and Bakersfield.
This project is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov; http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/) and the Southern California March of Dimes (http://www.marchofdimesca.org/) through the First5 Commissions of San Bernardino (http://www.first5sanbernardino.org/) and Kern (http://kccfc.org/) Counties.
Download
the PDF manual for conducting narrowcast campaigns.
For more information on this project, please contact Deborah
Glik .
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MotherNet
LA - Community Health Access Project (CHAP)
The goal of the Community Health Access Project (CHAP) is to improve
utilization of children’s health, mental and dental care services
through health care literacy training and mentorship support provided
to parents residing in Compton and South Los Angeles (an area with low
prevalence of children’s health care access and utilization).
MotherNet L.A. is a non-profit community-based agency serving disadvantaged
mothers and children and will be conducting CHAP from it’s faculties
in Compton, California. As part of CHAP, MotherNet L.A. is offering
a health literacy course for families with young children to teach them
how to access different health services for their children. HMRG will
assess the effectiveness of this program on knowledge, attitude and
behaviors of participating patients and the impact on children’s
healthcare access and utilization. HMRG will be evaluating CHAP by examining
the overall impact of the program on target audiences, as well as to
assess the degree to which the program is implemented as planned.
This project is being funded by the California Prop 10 Commission. For more information about this project, please contact Deborah Glik .
For past and future presentations
regarding this project, please see Presentations.
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to Current Projects List
Project
E.M.P.A.C.T. (Empowerment, Media, Prevention, and Advocacy for Controlling
Tobacco)
Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United
States. Despite this known health hazards, a consistent percentage of
adolescents appear to be particularly vulnerable to tobacco use and
dependence. With the understanding that the media is an influential
factor in health behavior, Project E.M.P.A.C.T. was developed to evaluate
the relative effectiveness of media literacy as a method of tobacco
education and prevention among adolescents. In addition to developing
and disseminating the program, HMRG is evaluating the impact of the
program in changing tobacco-related attitudes, knowledge and behaviors,
as well as assessing the accumulation of media literacy skills among
adolescent participants.
This project has been funded by the UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
and the Wilson Foundation. For more information about this project,
please contact Rachel Gonzales.
For related publications,
please see Publications.
For past and future presentations regarding this project, please see
Presentations.
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