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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

James F. Burdick, MD¹, Amanda Berkowitz, MPH², Mary Ganikos, PhD¹, and Vicki Beck, MS³. (1) Division of Transplantation, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane Rm. 12C-06, Rockville, MD 20857, (2) Annenberg Norman Lear Center, University of Southern California, 8383 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 650, Beverly Hills, CA 90211, (3) Hollywood, Health & Society Program, USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, 8383 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 650, Beverly Hills, CA 90211, 323-782-3315, vbeck@usc.edu

Because of its inherent dramatic potential, the topic of organ donation and transplantation is a popular theme in prime time and daytime television shows. These shows have a powerful influence on audiences, with the potential to educate millions of viewers about the topic when writers have access to accurate and timely information. The Division of Transplantation of the Health Resources and Services Administration has recently established a partnership with Hollywood, Health & Society, a project of the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center, to provide accurate health-related information to TV writers, and to conduct consultations and briefings with writers developing transplant storylines. Through this partnership, HRSA DOT staff and other transplant experts have responded to requests from writers of daytime and prime TV shows who were working on transplant topics during the 2005-2006 television season. During this presentation, we will describe a series of consultations with the CBS show, Numb3rs, for a storyline on black market organs and organ donation. We will show a clip from the episode, describe the consulting process and discuss the challenges that arise when consulting with TV writers of dramatic prime time shows. Storylines in other popular prime time and daytime TV shows may be discussed as well. Key messages have included the demand for donor organs, the importance of signing up to be an organ donor; fairness of the national organ allocation system; organ donation and transplantation in older adults (over 50); and black markets.

Learning Objectives:

• • Describe an entertainment education approach that supports TV writers in their efforts to incorporate public health messages into storylines.
• • Name 2 organ transplantation messages that have been incorporated into prime time programming.

Keywords: Media, Outreach Programs

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered