When I ask my health communication students to describe what childbirth is like, based on what they have seen on TV, they mention dramatic deliveries, perfectly clean newborns and instantly skinny mothers.
The unrealistic images my students are describing are a result of cultivation theory. The more we see something depicted, the more we believe that is the reality, especially if we don’t have any real experience to compare it to.
Watching medical shows can be problematic when fans develop a skewed perception of what are more or less prevalent health issues in the real world. A study in Human Communication Research found dramatic injuries and rare diseases make for good TV, but the amount of screen time given to these conditions isn’t proportional to how common they are in real life. Audiences may also adopt attitudes toward medical procedures based on how they are portrayed. A study led by Brian Quick at the University of Illinois found that after watching an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” where doctors behaved unethically by choosing friends to receive organs over other people who needed transplants, viewers had reduced knowledge levels about donation and increased attitudinal barriers.
However, there have been instances where if accurate information is given, it can increase health literacy. The Kaiser Family Foundation found that, after watching a target episode in which an HIV positive mother is counseled that if she receives the proper treatment, her chances of transmitting the HIV virus to her baby are substantially reduced, viewers’ knowledge about mother-to-child HIV transmission rates rose significantly and was retained by many viewers six weeks later.
Resources:
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/08/healthcare-in-the-time-of-greys-anatomy/379087/
http://www.vox.com/2014/5/28/5754292/study-greys-anatomy-is-turning-people-against-organ-donation
https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/the-effects-of-viewing-greys-anatomy-on-perceptions-of-doctors-an
https://ethicalnag.org/2011/01/31/greys-anatomy/
