We've got them talking! Relationship between listening to a public health radio soap opera and talking to friends and family about health issues

Background: BODYLOVE is a radio drama to promote pro-health behaviors among African American adults. Eighty episodes were broadcast at fifteen radio stations in Alabama. This presentation examines the relationship between program listening and talking about specific health issues. Methods: Two-hundred-thirty-eight listeners to stations that broadcast BODYLOVE were recruited for a longitudinal panel to evaluate the program. Surveys were mailed to the panel before the first episode broadcast (T1) and one after every 20 episodes. This study used data collected at T1 and after episode 60 (T4). Respondents were asked how often (5-point scale from never to very often) they discussed 13 health issues with friends and family. Frequency of listening to the program was coded as: no listening; some listening; steady listening. Results: Eighty-two to 100 respondents were included in the analyses. Paired t-tests showed a statistically significant increase from T1 to T4 in mean frequency of talking about diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease. Talking about stroke and organ donation did not change significantly. In a separate analysis, frequency of talking about changing unhealthy habits at T4 (not measured at T1) was significantly associated with frequency of listening. Discussion: Frequency of talking about a health issue may be an indicator of increased awareness of and concern about the issue. These results suggest that those who listen to the BODYLOVE radio drama increased the frequency with which they talked about important health issues. In addition, the frequency of talking about changing unhealthy habits increased with increased listening frequency.