MEDIA IN HEALTH 2
Running Head: MEDIA IN HEALTH 2
SOCIAL MEDIA IN HEALTH 2
The Role of the Media in Public Health
Tobacco Free Florida (TFF) was launched in 2007 following the Florida voters’ acceptance of a constitutional amendment. TFF’ s main aim is to ensure that there is education about the use of tobacco and prevent its use. The media has played a huge role in tobacco education and prevention. Tobacco quit lines and web-based treatments are being used to reduce the level of tobacco use. Television advertising has been widely used to promote telephone quit lines, and there is strong evidence for its effectiveness in the United States and internationally (Duke, Mann, Davis, & Allen, 2014). The TFF team including the Alma DBB and their partners have used different media formats to reach out to smokers.
With the Zika Free Florida, the media has played a great role too in preventing the spread of the Zika Virus. NEHA uses Facebook and twitter to provide information and updates to the affected people and environmental health professionals.
Substance Abuse
Substance abuse is a serious public health issue which needs to be highlighted in the health policy. Drugs and alcohol are among the substances which have destroyed the lives of the youths. Youths self-medicate themselves using illegal substances and alcohol. This is affecting the future generation hence it is a matter to be taken seriously.
Social media can be used as a good tool to prevent substance abuse especially among the youths. The media can be used to disseminate information about the drugs and alcohol by giving threats of using the substances so that people can change their behaviors. Using the internet, magazines, billboards, and newspapers, it will be so easy to spread the message on the effects of substance abuse. Media campaigns should be widely used. hey often address specific substances with the aim of reducing use and raising awareness about the associated problems (Ferri, Allara, & Gasparrini, 2013). The media has the ability to propagate short, simple. and focused information about substance abuse.
References
Ferri, M., Allara, E., Bo, A., Gasparrini, A., & Faggiano, F. (2013). Media campaigns for the prevention of illicit drug use in young people. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (6).
Duke, J. C., Mann, N., Davis, K. C., MacMonegle, A., Allen, J., & Porter, L. (2014). Peer Reviewed: The Impact of a State-Sponsored Mass Media Campaign on Use of Telephone Quitline and Web-Based Cessation Services. Preventing chronic disease, 11
