Opportunities and challenges of entertainment-education: Learning about Parkinson’s disease via The Michael J. Fox Show

Authors

  • Elena Link Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
  • Daniela M. Schluetz Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
  • Stephen Brauer Klinikum Region Hannover

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.28981

Keywords:

entertainment-education, Parkinson’s disease, The Michael J. Fox Show, TV series

Abstract

Health topics are omnipresent in the media. However, although both informational and entertainment formats can increase public understanding of health and illness, media representations of diseases involve challenges as well as opportunities. The entertainment-education (E-E) approach highlights the positive effects of incorporating health messages into entertainment media. The goal of influencing awareness, knowledge and attitudes is reached by transporting the audience into a narrative, which as such enhances persuasive effects and suppresses counterarguing. The NBC sitcom The Michael J. Fox Show (TMJFS) is an E-E format inspired by the actor’s own experiences with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Using TMJFS as an exemplar, we conducted a multimethodological study to understand both the challenges and the opportunities of E-E comedy formats. A content analysis focusing on the representation of PD in TMJFS showed a focus on motoric symptoms of PD. Subsequent recap analyses and qualitative interviews were conducted to better understand different readings of the show in terms of its informative and entertaining aspects. Additionally, we performed a standardized online survey and an experiment to measure attitudinal effects of TMJFS.

Author Biographies

  • Elena Link, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
    Elena Link is a doctoral student at the Department of Journalism and Communication Research at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany. Her research interests include health communication, research methods, journalism, and political communication.
  • Daniela M. Schluetz, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media
    Daniela M. Schlütz received her PhD in philosophy and communication science from the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, where she also achieved her postdoctorate lecturing qualification and now works as an Associate Professor. Her research interests include entertainment media, narrative persuasion, and research methods.
  • Stephen Brauer, Klinikum Region Hannover
    Stefan Brauer is an MD specializing in psychiatry and neurology. He works as senior physician at the Klinikum Region Hannover.

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Published

2017-05-04

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Link, E., Schluetz, D. M., & Brauer, S. (2017). Opportunities and challenges of entertainment-education: Learning about Parkinson’s disease via The Michael J. Fox Show. Communication and Medicine, 13(2), 203-214. https://doi.org/10.1558/cam.28981

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