Marketing to Youth in the Digital Age: The Promotion of Unhealthy Products and Health Promoting Behaviours on Social Media

The near-ubiquitous use of social media among adolescents and young adults creates opportunities for both corporate brands and health promotion agencies to target and engage with young audiences in unprecedented ways. Traditional media is known to have both a positive and negative influence on youth health behaviours, but the impact of social media is less well understood. This paper first summarises current evidence around adolescents’ exposure to the pro-motion and marketing of unhealthy products such as energy dense and nutrient poor food and beverages, alcohol, and tobacco on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. We explore emerging evidence about the extent of exposure to marketing of these harmful products through social media platforms and potential impacts of exposure on adolescent health. Secondly, we present examples of health-promoting social media campaigns aimed at youth, with the purpose of describing innovative campaigns and highlighting lessons learned for creating effective social media interventions. Finally, we suggest implications for policy and practice, and identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for future research

Use and perceived helpfulness of smoking cessation methods: results from a population survey of recent quitters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Increasing rates of smoking cessation is one of the most effective measures available to improve population health. To advance the goal of increasing successful cessation at the population level, it is imperative that we understand more about smokers' use of cessation methods, as well as the helpfulness of those methods in real-world experiences of quitting. In this survey of recent quitters, we simultaneously examined rates of use and perceived helpfulness of various cessation methods.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Recent quitters (within 12 months; n = 1097) completed a telephone survey including questions relating to 13 cessation methods. Indices of use and perceived helpfulness for each method were plotted in a quadrant analysis. Socio-demographic differences were explored using bivariate and multivariate analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From the quadrant analysis, cold turkey, NRT and gradual reduction before quitting had high use and helpfulness; GP advice had high use and lower helpfulness. Prescribed medication and online programs had low use but high helpfulness. Remaining methods had low use and helpfulness. Younger quitters were more likely to use unassisted methods such as cold turkey; older or less educated quitters were more likely to use assisted methods such as prescribed medication or advice from a general practitioner.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The majority of recent quitters quit cold turkey or cut down before quitting, and reported that these methods were helpful. Efforts to influence population smoking prevalence should attempt to provide support and motivation for smokers choosing these methods, in addition to assessing the effectiveness and accessibility of other methods for smokers who need or choose them.</p

Whiteness and loss in outer East London: tracing the collective memories of diaspora space

This paper explores collective memory in Newham, East London. It addresses how remembering East London as the home of whiteness and traditional forms of community entails powerful forms of forgetting. Newham's formation through migration – its ‘great time’ – has ensured that myths of indigeneity and whiteness have never stood still. Through engaging with young people's and youth workers' memory practices, the paper explores how phantasms of whiteness and class loss are traced over, and how this tracing reveals ambivalence and porosity, at the same time as it highlights the continued allure of race. It explores how whiteness and class loss are appropriated across ethnic boundaries and how they are mobilized to produce new forms of racial hierarchy in a ‘super-diverse’ place

Comparison of outpatient health care utilization among returning women and men Veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The number of women serving in the United States military increased during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), leading to a subsequent surge in new women Veterans seeking health care services from the Veterans Administration (VA). The objective of this study was to examine gender differences among OEF/OIF Veterans in utilization of VA outpatient health care services.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Our retrospective cohort consisted of 1,620 OEF/OIF Veterans (240 women and 1380 men) who enrolled for outpatient healthcare at a single VA facility. We collected demographic data and information on military service and VA utilization from VA electronic medical records. To assess gender differences we used two models: use versus nonuse of services (logistic regression) and intensity of use among users (negative binomial regression).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our sample, women were more likely to be younger, single, and non-white than men. Women were more likely to utilize outpatient care services (odds ratio [OR] = 1.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.09, 1.98), but once care was initiated, frequency of visits over time (intensity) did not differ by gender (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.27).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Recently discharged OEF/OIF women Veterans were more likely to seek VA health care than men Veterans. But the intensity of use was similar between women and men VA care users. As more women use VA health care, prospective studies exploring gender differences in types of services utilized, health outcomes, and factors associated with satisfaction will be required.</p

What do we know about unassisted smoking cessation in Australia? A systematic review, 2005–2012

Context A significant proportion of smokers who quit do so on their own without formal help (i.e. without professionally or pharmacologically mediated assistance), yet research into how smokers quit focuses primarily on assisted methods of cessation. Objective To systematically review recent smoking cessation research in Australia, a nation advanced in tobacco control, to determine what is known about smokers who quit unassisted in order to (1) inform a research agenda to develop greater understanding of the many smokers who quit unassisted and (2) elucidate possible lessons for policy and mass communication about cessation. Methods In January 2013, four e-databases and the grey literature were searched for articles published 2005–2012 on smoking cessation in Australia. Articles focusing solely on interventions designed to stimulate cessation were excluded, as were articles focusing solely on assisted cessation, leaving articles reporting on smokers who quit unassisted. Data from articles reporting on unassisted cessation were extracted and grouped into related categories. Results 248 articles reported on smoking cessation, of which 63 focused solely on interventions designed to stimulate cessation, leaving 185 reporting on the method of cessation (‘how’ a smoker quits). Of these, 166 focused solely on assisted cessation, leaving 19 reporting, either directly or indirectly, on smokers who quit unassisted. Data from these studies indicated 54%–69% of ex-smokers quit unassisted, and 41%–58% of current smokers had attempted to quit unassisted. Conclusions The majority of Australian smokers quit or attempt to quit unassisted, yet little research has been dedicated to understanding this process. Almost all research that reported unassisted cessation referenced it as a comparator to the focal point of assisted cessation. Public health may benefit from insights gained from greater research into the cessation method used by most smokers. Suggestions and a rationale for such research are provided.National Health and Medical Research Council, Australi

Changing health behaviours: the roles of intra- and inter-personal responses to Public Health mass media campaigns

© 2008 Dr. Sally Margaret DunlopMass media campaigns have long been used as a social intervention tool to reduce unhealthy practices and to improve public health. Despite evidence that mass media campaigns can be an effective means for educating the public and changing health behaviours, the effects of such campaigns are typically modest in size (Noar, 2006; Snyder & Hamilton, 2002). Therefore, there remain many questions as to what makes a particular campaign effective in comparison to others, and under what conditions success is likely to occur. Scholars from the fields of social psychology and communication have offered some important insights into the processes that contribute to such successes. Social psychological research has typically addressed the issue of media impact on health behaviour from an intra-individual perspective, identifying precursors to behaviour change that media campaigns can attempt to influence (e.g. Ajzen, 1991; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Rosenstock, 1974), and analysing the intra-individual processes involved in persuasion (e.g. Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Communication research, on the other hand, has broadened the context in which media effects are analysed, introducing the idea that the social environment in which media arc received and interpreted will impact upon the effects of that media, and highlighting the importance of interpersonal processes in media effects (e.g. Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1955; Lazarsfeld, Berelson, & Gaudet, 1944; McCombs & Shaw, 1972). The primary aim of the current program of research was to bring these two approaches to media effects together in an investigation into the effects of mass media campaigns on health behaviour. This research sought to integrate interpersonal social influence into a model of media effects and behaviour change. Specifically, a number of research questions were explored. Firstly, the mechanisms by which intra-personal responses to mass media campaigns contribute directly to individuals’ health attitudes, intentions and behaviours were explored. Included in this investigation was a comparison of intra-personal responses to messages of different formats - paying particular attention to responses to narrative messages in comparison to more typical advocacy messages. This program of research was also concerned with determining if mass media messages could have an indirect effect on individual health behaviours through the elicitation of interpersonal discussion. Finally, it involved an exploration of the relationship between intra- and inter-personal responses to media campaigns, determining which intra-personal responses are most likely to stimulate interpersonal discussion. Six studies were conducted to address these research questions in the context of a variety of health issues (smoking, skin cancer prevention, obesity, and HPV vaccination) and making use of a range of methodologies (cross-sectional population-level surveys and experimental designs, some with follow-up components). In combination, these studies demonstrate that both intra- and inter-personal responses to media campaigns are important pathways to behaviour change. In general, the results of the experimental studies suggest that, within the intra-personal pathway, emotional and experiential reactions (as compared to cognitive responses) are those most likely to influence persuasive outcomes such as intentions, and this is the case for responses to both narrative and non-narrative messages. This effect appears to be due to the relationship between experiential responses and perceptions of one’s risk of the depicted negative health outcome. The results of the survey studies also show that these emotional intra-personal responses are important for stimulating interpersonal discussion about media campaigns. Interpersonal discussion was demonstrated to have a moderating impact on media effects, such that individuals who discuss campaigns were most likely to show positive changes in behaviour, especially if the advertisement was of a non-narrative format. Whilst the current research does not provide a clear indication as to the mechanisms by which interpersonal discussion impacts upon behaviour, it suggests that discussions involving a sharing of opinions, and those which do not explicitly reject the message, are most influential. The implications of these findings are considered in relation to both health communication theory and practice. Theoretically, these results provide an initial indication that theories of health communication should consider media effects in a broad context which recognises the interaction between mass media and interpersonal communication. In practice, the results suggest that campaign developers should continue to focus on messages that encourage an experiential response from viewers in order to both influence them directly and to generate influential interpersonal discussion

Editorial

In our call for papers for this special issue on transitions in the early years, we highlighted the issue of respectful, reciprocal relationships and the importance of listening to communities whose voices had not been previously heard. The papers published here provide an opportunity to consider these issues through new lenses, providing perspectives which include different sectors of early education; geograph- ical variations across urban, rural and remote communities; children's experiences across age groups, within settings and between home and centre; structural, curricular and professional priorities. It is possible to consider the implications of such emerging transitions issues – as identity, aspirations, agency, power, structure and relational approaches – for policy, pedagogy and partnership. The inspiration for this special edition came from the two guest editors' involvement in a four-year (2103–2016) five-country International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) project focused on Pedagogies of Educational Transi- tions [POET]. Funded by Marie Curie in Europe and the Royal Society in New Zealand, POET provides a platform for the sharing of research expertise between researchers from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, Mälardalen University in Sweden, Scotland's University of Strathclyde, the University of Iceland and Australia's Charles Sturt University. The POET project highlighted international interest in aspects of transitions research, something that was reinforced by the response to the call for papers for this journal. The resulting collection draws on research from Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany and Iceland