O'Leary A, Kennedy M, Beck V, Simpson P, Pollard K; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 2002 Jul 7-12; 14: abstract no. E11531.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, United States

ISSUES: The Bold and the Beautiful (B&B), a daytime drama, is the most-watched television program in the world, reaching an estimated 300,000,000 viewers in nearly 100 countries. As part of CDC's "Entertainment Education" project, CDC experts consulted with writers of a storyline in which a heterosexual man is diagnosed with HIV, to provide accurate and realistic information regarding HIV disease. DESCRIPTION: During the month of August, 2001, CBS broadcast a CDC AIDS hotline number at the end of two episodes of B & B: August 3, the day the character Antonio learned he is HIV+; and August 13, the day he disclosed his status to his fiancee. On August 3, during the time slot in which the half-hour show is broadcast, 1,426 call attempts were made to the hotline. On August 13, there were 1,840 calls attempted. Far fewer calls were attempted during the time periods on comparison days (88 to 234). Hotline staff interviewed a small subset of callers; 28 persons interviewed said they had learned about the hotline during a soap opera. Of these, 57% said that they intended to make a change as a result of the show; of those, 44% said that they intended to "get tested", and 28% said that they intended to "use condoms". LESSONS LEARNED: The combination of the serial drama and an information source resulted in more calls to the hotline than had been received in response to a television program or public service announcement during the entire calendar year. Unfortunately, the hotline staff were too few in number to answer even a small minority of calls. Changes in protocol and improvements in telephone technology are being instituted to strengthen preparedness prior to airings of the hotline number. RECOMMENDATIONS: Collaboration between the entertainment and public health sectors of a society provides an opportunity to achieve the public health aim of information dissemination together with the entertainment aim of providing compelling storylines.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
• Communication
• Federal Government
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Health Services
• Hotlines
• Humans
• Male
• Telephone
• education
• prevention & control

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0014369

UI: 102251867

From Meeting Abstracts