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Biomedical subjects

L Dorfman

Publications and source records attributed to L Dorfman.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Ab-normative data.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Evoked Potentials, Motor↗
PubMed1997

Youth and violence on local television news in California.

OBJECTIVES: This study explores how local television news structures the public and policy debate on youth violence. METHODS: A content analysis was performed on 214 hours of local television news from California. Each of the 1791 stories concerning youth, violence, or both was coded and analyzed for whether it included a public health perspective. RESULTS: There were five key findings. First, violence dominated local television news coverage. Second, the specifics of particular crimes dominated coverage of violence. Third, over half of the stories on youth involved violence, while more than two thirds of the violence stories concerned youth. Fourth, episodic coverage of violence was more than five times more frequent than thematic coverage, which included links to broader social factors. Finally, only one story had an explicit public health frame. CONCLUSIONS: Local television news provides extremely limited coverage of contributing etiological factors in stories on violence. If our nation's most popular source of news continues to report on violence primarily through crime stories isolated from their social context, the chance for widespread support for public health solutions to violence will be diminished.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Local television news coverage of President Clinton's introduction of the Health Security Act.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate how local television news reported on health system reform during the week President Clinton presented his health system reform bill. DESIGN: Retrospective content analysis of the 1342-page Health Security Act of 1993, the printed text of President Clinton's speech before Congress on September 22, 1993, and a sample of local television news stories on health system reform broadcast during the week of September 19 through 25, 1993. SETTING: The state of California. RESULTS: During the week, 316 television news stories on health system reform were aired during the 166 local news broadcasts sampled. Health system reform was the second most frequently reported topic, second to stories on violent crime. News stories on health system reform averaged 1 minute 38 seconds in length, compared with 57 seconds for violent crime. Fifty-seven percent of the local news stories focused on interest group politics. Compared with the content of the Health Security Act, local news broadcasts devoted a significantly greater portion of their stories to financing, eligibility, and preventive services. Local news stories gave significantly less attention to cost-saving mechanisms, long-term care benefits, and changes in Medicare and Medicaid, and less than 2% of stories mentioned quality assurance mechanisms, malpractice reform, or new public health initiatives. Of the 316 televised news stories, 53 reported on the president's speech, covering many of the same topics emphasized in the speech (financing, organization and administration, and eligibility) and de-emphasizing many of the same topics (Medicare and Medicaid, quality assurance, and malpractice reform). Two percent of the president's speech covered partisan politics; 45% of the local news stories on the speech featured challenges from partisan politicians. CONCLUSIONS: Although health system reform was the focus of a large number of local television news stories during the week, in-depth explanation was scarce. In general, the news stories provided superficial coverage framed largely in terms of the risks and costs of reform to specific stakeholders.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1996

Media advocacy: a strategy for advancing policy and promoting health.

The purpose of media advocacy is to promote public health goals by using the media to strategically apply pressure for policy change. It provides a framework for moving the public health discussion from a primary focus on the health behavior of individuals to the behavior of the policymakers whose decisions structure the environment in which people act. It addresses the power gap rather than just the information gap. Media advocacy focuses on public policy rather than personal behavior. This article uses two case studies to illustrate key aspects of media advocacy. The first is a 5-year statewide violence prevention initiative for young people in California. The second focuses on the activities of a mothers' group working to improve public housing. The "new public health," with its focus on participation, policy development, and political processes, could benefit from incorporating media advocacy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Phase 1 clinical trial of chimeric monoclonal anti-CD4 antibody in multiple sclerosis.

We conducted an open trial of cM-T412, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD4 antibody, in 29 patients with MS. This antibody caused a prompt and long-lasting depletion of circulating CD4 (helper/inducer) lymphocytes. The mean (+/- SE) CD4 count for the group decreased from 870 (+/- 66) cells/mm3 at baseline to 76 (+/- 11) 3 hours after treatment, and then increased to 425 (+/- 38) at 1 month after treatment and 475 (+/- 39) at 6 months after treatment. Numbers of CD8 (cytotoxic/suppressor) lymphocytes, B lymphocytes, granulocytes, and monocytes changed transiently but showed no significant long-term effects. The most common side effects were headache, nausea, myalgia, fever, and tachycardia occurring in the first few hours after treatment. No serious or unexpected infections or other significant adverse effects occurred. Kurtzke EDSS scores remained stable, and MRI scans showed less contrast enhancement 1 week after treatment. We conclude that treatment of MS patients with cM-T412 chimeric anti-CD4 antibody is well tolerated at the doses tested and produces a long-lasting, selective depletion of CD4 lymphocytes.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Health messages on television commercials.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Television is an important source of health information in the United States, yet little research has focused on the presentation of general health issues on television. This preliminary study reports on the health-related content of television commercials found on a typical television day. METHODS: We conducted a content analysis of a composite day of television comprising 20 hours randomly selected over a three week period (April-May 1989). Findings are presented regarding health messages found in commercial time--advertisements, public service announcements (PSAs), editorials, and promotions for upcoming programs. RESULTS: Overall, 31% of the 654 commercial spots contained health messages. Most health messages were claims of good nutrition in food and beverage advertisements. PSAs comprise 1.4% of the 20-hour sample and 5.8% of the commercial time. Health messages appeared in 38% of PSAs, accounting for less than seven minutes. Not one PSA addressed tobacco, alcohol, or diet--the three leading behavioral risk factors for poor health. DISCUSSION: PSAs are usually seen as a mechanism by which the public health community can alert the public to important health issues. Given the declining pool of PSA time, public health educators will need to seek alternative strategies for influencing television content, such as media advocacy. In addition, further research on audience interpretation and response to commercial messages is suggested.

Advertising↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Advertising health: the case for counter-ads.

Public service advertisements have been used by many in hopes of "selling" good health behaviors. But selling good behavior--even if it could be done more effectively--is not the best goal for using mass media to prevent health problems. Personal behavior is only part of what determines health status. Social conditions and the physical environment are important determinants of health that are usually ignored by health promotion advertising. Public service advertising may be doing more harm than good if it is diverting attention from more effective socially based health promotion strategies. Counter-ads are one communications strategy that could be used to promote a broader responsibility for rectifying health problems. In the tradition of advocacy advertising directly promoting policy rather than products, counter-ads promote views consistent with a public health perspective. Counter-ads set the agenda for health issues, conferring status on policy-oriented strategies for addressing health problems. The primary purpose of counter-ads is to challenge the dominant view that public health problems reflect personal health habits. They are controversial because they place health issues in a social and political context. Advertising strategies for health promotion range over a spectrum from individually oriented public service advertising to socially oriented counter-advertising. The recent anti-tobacco campaign from the California Department of Health Services represents advertisements across the spectrum. Counter-ads that focus on a politically controversial definition for health problems are an appropriate and necessary alternative to public service advertising.

Adolescent↗