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This survey brief of new analysis from the 2002 National Survey of Latinos examines Latinos experiences with health care in the United States. Topics discussed include coverage, accessing health care services, and communicating with health care providers.
Survey Brief (.pdf)
A new survey by The San Jose Mercury News and the Kaiser Family Foundation on childhood obesity. The survey focuses on Bay Area adults’ knowledge and attitudes about childhood obesity and questions parents about their own child’s weight and lifestyle. A separate national survey of adults provides national comparisons of views on public policy options.
Summary and Chartpack (.pdf)
The Kaiser Family Foundation, in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates, conducted a comprehensive examination of media coverage of HIV/AIDS from 1981 to 2002. The study investigates the volume of HIV/AIDS coverage over time and key events, domestic versus international focus of coverage, the portrayal of affected populations, story topics, the tone of the media coverage, the length and placement of the coverage, and the consumer education component.
An overview of the study, “” was a supplement to the March/April 2004 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review. In addition to this overview, an article, “AIDS: Hiding in Plain Sight,” by Kai Wright, appeared inside the March/April 2004 issue.
AIDS at 21: Media Coverage of the HIV Epidemic 1981-2002
The Kaiser Family Foundation, in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates, conducted a comprehensive examination of media coverage of HIV/AIDS from 1981 to 2002. The study investigates the volume of HIV/AIDS coverage over time and key events, domestic versus international focus of coverage, the portrayal of affected populations, story topics, the tone of the media coverage, the length and placement of the coverage, and the consumer education component.
An overview of the study, “AIDS at 21: Media Coverage of the HIV Epidemic 1981-2002” was a supplement to the March/April 2004 issue of the Columbia Journalism Review.
AIDS at 21: Media Coverage of the HIV Epidemic 1981-2002 (.pdf)
A new survey by The San Jose Mercury News and the Kaiser Family Foundation on childhood obesity. The survey focuses on Bay Area adults’ knowledge and attitudes about childhood obesity and questions parents about their own child’s weight and lifestyle. A separate national survey of adults provides national comparisons of views on public policy options.
Survey Toplines (.pdf)
A new survey by The San Jose Mercury News and the Kaiser Family Foundation on childhood obesity. The survey focuses on Bay Area adults’ knowledge about childhood obesity and their attitudes towards policy options to address it. Furthermore, the survey examines Bay Area parents’ views on their own child’s weight and lifestyle and the different attitudes of Bay Area Hispanics, whites, and Asians. A separate national survey of adults provides national comparisons of views on public policy options (March 2004).
In this report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Penny Thompson, former deputy director for the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, used existing models from the private sector and other government programs to assess Medicaid’s financial management and to develop options for improvement. This table summarizes the report’s findings.
Chart (.pdf)
For Immediate Release:Monday, March 1, 2004
For further information contact:Chris Peacock or Rob Graham, (650) 854-9400
22-YEAR ANALYSIS SHOWS OVERALL MEDIA COVERAGE OF HIV/AIDS DECREASING, BUT FOCUS ON GLOBAL EPIDEMIC INCREASING
People Most Affected by HIV/AIDS Are Rarely the Focus of Media Coverage
Menlo Park, CA – Are the media experiencing “AIDS fatigue?” A new Kaiser Family Foundation study examining 22 years of news coverage finds that overall media coverage is decreasing, while the amount of coverage of the global epidemic is increasing.
AIDS at 21: Media Coverage of the HIV Epidemic 1981-2002 also finds that specific populations disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in the U.S., such as gay men, teenagers and young adults, minorities, and women, were the focus of only a small amount of the news coverage.
“In the United States, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has moved from being an absolute death sentence to more of a chronic disease and one with an increasing presence in minority communities,” said Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of Public Opinion and Media Research at the Foundation. “The challenge for reporters interested in writing about HIV is to explore new news angles and for those fighting the epidemic, the challenge is to find new ways to tell the story.”
Key findings of the study include:
Decline in Total Coverage. Total media coverage of HIV/AIDS increased during the early 1980’s, peaked in 1987, and declined steadily through 2001. While this decline in coverage seems to mirror a decline in new AIDS cases in the U.S., it began about six years before the decline in cases, and continued even as the cumulative number of AIDS cases in the U.S. rose above 500,000. Minor peaks in coverage after 1987 coincided with major developments in the epidemic, occurring in 1991 (Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV positive), 1996 (the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy), and 2001 (increased attention to the global epidemic).
Shift Away from U.S. Focus. Coverage was mainly U.S.-focused throughout the time period, but this has shifted recently, as the proportion of stories with at least some global focus increased dramatically, starting in 2000, accompanied by a decline in attention to the domestic story.
Changes in Portrayal of Affected Population. Over time, there was a decrease in media coverage focused on the U.S. population and an increase in attention to the world and non-U.S. populations generally and African and Asian nations’ populations in particular. This shift largely tracks with the shift in story focus to the global epidemic over time. Perhaps surprisingly, HIV/AIDS never became a story only about gay men, who were the focus of only 4% of stories overall. Other subgroups, such as minorities and women, disproportionately affected by the epidemic also received relatively little attention.
Similarly, images used in broadcast stories only rarely reflected specific populations affected by HIV/AIDS. In an analysis of the “face of AIDS” as visually depicted in broadcast news, the most frequently portrayed population was health care professionals (20% of broadcast stories), while gay men were the on-camera focus of 3% of stories, teenagers and young adults (3%), minorities (1%) and women (1%).
Changes in Story Topics. Over time, stories about HIV transmission and social issues such as discrimination and housing declined, as stories focusing on government funding/financing for HIV/AIDS and philanthropic fundraising efforts increased.
Timeline Events. Coverage generally reflected key events that have occurred throughout the history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including the initial CDC reports about AIDS, the closing of San Francisco bathhouses, Magic Johnson’s announcement that he was HIV positive, the introduction of protease inhibitors/highly active antiretroviral therapy, and HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Consumer Education. The study also finds a decreasing number of stories with a consumer education component. Previous national surveys of the public have found a lack of knowledge about HIV transmission among a significant minority of the U.S. population. This raises the ever-present question of the appropriate role of journalists, especially in the context of a public health epidemic: to what extent do the media have a responsibility to educate the public, as opposed to focusing only on reporting the news?
“The lack of focus on those most affected by HIV/AIDS occurs at the same time as we see in other surveys that personal concern about the epidemic among African-Americans and Latinos is down,” said Jennifer Kates, M.A., M.P.A., Director of HIV Policy at the Foundation.
METHODOLOGY
The Kaiser Family Foundation in conjunction with Princeton Survey Research Associates International, conducted a comprehensive examination of media coverage of HIV/AIDS over the time period from the first news reports in 1981 through December 2002. The analysis presented here is based on a sample of more than 9,000 total news stories from major U.S. print and broadcast sources, including four major national newspapers (The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and USA Today), three major regional papers in areas particularly hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic (the San Francisco Chronicle, The Miami Herald, and the Los Angeles Times), and three major network news programs (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News). Stories were also coded from The London Times for comparison to U.S. print media.
The report is included as a supplement to the March/April 2004 issue of Columbia Journalism Review and is available online at http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/AIDSat21.cfm.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
Embargoed for release until:February 26, 2004, 12:00 pm EST
For further information contact:Jennifer Morales or Sara Knoll, (202) 347-5270Chris Peacock, (650) 854-9400
NEW KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION SURVEY SHOWS SENIORSCONFUSED ABOUT MEDICARE RX DRUG LAW
Nearly 7 In 10 Seniors Say They Do Not Know Drug LegislationWas Passed and Signed Into Law
Washington, D.C. – A survey released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows seniors are confused about the outcome of the Medicare prescription drug debate and the prescription drug law. While about two-thirds of seniors report following the debate closely, just 15% say they understand the new prescription drug law very well and almost seven in 10 don’t know that it passed and was signed into law.
The January/February Kaiser Health Poll Report survey shows just how big a challenge it will be to educate seniors about the new Medicare prescription drug law, signed by the President on Dec. 8, 2003, as the focus shifts from debate in Congress to implementation.
The survey found that as of Feb. 8, 64% of seniors (49% of the public) said they followed the Medicare prescription drug debate “very closely” or “somewhat closely.” However, most seniors say they don’t understand the new law. Only 15% of seniors (7% of the public overall) say they understand the law “very well”; 24% of seniors (26% of the public) say they understand it “somewhat well”; and 60% of seniors (64% of the public) say they understand it “not too well” or “not well at all.”
One poll finding was particularly striking: 68% of seniors don’t know the law was passed by the Congress and signed by the President; 27% think the law did not pass, and 41% say they did not know whether or not it was passed. Some 32% of seniors correctly say the law was passed and signed. Awareness is even lower for the general public (23% say it was passed and signed).
“The lack of understanding of the prescription drug law makes it ripe for political demagoguery on both sides as we enter the election season. The President will say he delivered a good prescription drug law and the Democratic candidate will say it’s a bad law. How are seniors to judge?” said Drew E. Altman, Ph.D., Kaiser’s President and CEO.
“The complex nature of the law, with all its nooks and crannies and winners and losers, makes the public education challenge much harder. It will take customized one-on-one assistance to really give beneficiaries meaningful help,” Altman added.
The drug benefit will not take effect until 2006 and clearly confusion exists, but currently a majority of seniors have an unfavorable impression of the law. Based on their personal knowledge about the law, 55% of seniors (38% of the public) say their impression is unfavorable, compared with 17% of seniors (25% of the public) who say it is favorable. Some 28% of seniors (37% of the public) say they don’t have any impression of the new law.
Among seniors, those who know the law has passed are more likely to say they understand it “very” or “somewhat” well (58%) compared to those seniors who did not know the law has passed (31%). Seniors who knew the law was passed are also considerably more likely to say that they have an unfavorable impression of the law (73%) compared to those seniors who didn’t know about passage (46% say unfavorable). The survey found that seniors who knew the law passed appear more politically engaged than seniors as a whole; they were more likely to report being registered to vote and voting in past elections.
“Implementation of the drug benefit is still two years away and success or failure is not preordained, but as of right now, there is obviously a huge need for seniors to have more information,” said Mollyann Brodie, Ph.D., Vice President and Director of Public Opinion and Media Research.
Findings from the survey are available on the Kaiser Family Foundation website at: http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/pomr022604pkg.cfm.
METHODOLOGY
The Kaiser Family Foundation Health Poll Report Survey was designed and analyzed by researchers at the Kaiser Family Foundation. Fieldwork was conducted by telephone by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between February 5 and February 8, 2004, among a nationally representative random sample of 1,201 adults ages 18 and over, including 237 adults ages 65 and older.
The margin of sampling error for the survey is plus or minus 3 percentage points for total respondents; for respondents ages 65 and older it is plus or minus 6.7 percentage points. For results based on smaller subsets of respondents the margin of sampling error is higher. Note that sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll.
The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health care issues to policymakers, the media, the health care community, and the general public. The Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.