The Role of the Media in Complementary and Alternative Medicine - Essay Example

? Media in Complementary and Alternative Medicine       Media in Complementary and Alternative Medicine Introduction The media coverage for issues relating to health has tremendously intensified over in recent times. Media houses have increased its medical content by a large percentage over the years in a number of countries. It has been discovered that the zeal for health associated television and news has proliferated (Maccoby & Farquhar 1975, p. 120). For example, in 1997, in the United States of America, a survey conducted by the National Health Council indicated that 75% of the citizens paid a large amount or considerable consideration to health and medical news. The number of individuals who asserted they did not pay attention to the health and medical news stood at a minimal 5%. In addition, it is essential that media reporting of health concerns and related prospects be of elevated quality. This is because there is significant proof of an association between health behavior and health news reports (Berelson & Janowitz 1966, p. 379). This paper will look at the responsibility of the media in complementary and alternative medicine. In spite its ability to educate and inform members of the public on the influence of health behavior and health issues, investigations have obtained different forms of omissions and inaccuracies in health and related news. The most widespread worries about the news include; the inability to gain views from independent participant, needless sensationalism, lack of consideration of significant costs and effects, inaccurate portrayal of benefits, inability to take into account the eminence of evidence, and deficient follow-through. Extremely minimal is known about how the media reports on complementary and alternative medicine. This is in spite the advancement in the utilization of complementary and alternative practice (Durham & Kellner 2001, p. 37). A study which investigated the tone and form of media reporting about complementary and alternative medicine in Germany in the United Kingdom highlighted a number of inconsistencies in the news (Ernst & Weihmayr 2000, p. 707). The media plays a significant part in passing information about complementary and alternative medicine. This is mostly significant as there are efforts to provide details on the safety and efficiency of complementary and alternative medicine. There is tremendous inconsistency in news coverage practices about complementary and alternative medicine. Generally, even though they may be on the rise, the scores on news reporting are still low. From this view, it may be argued that a large content of details members of the public get about complementary and alternative medicine is either incomplete or inaccurate. One of the issues may be journalists or reporters infrequently do sufficient background investigation and are frequently short of complete medical comprehension of the subjects they record (McCombs & Shaw 1972, p. 176). Another concern about the mass media is that reporters conduct investigations or do research on issues without a genuine interest in the concerns. These people seem to look into quotes and instances that correspond to their views or opinions. The media, for example, fan cultures, television, journals, music, television, social media, among other creates an accessible and everlasting flow of knowledge. A large part of information that individuals gain and come across is through the media. The art of advertising, the print media, and technology of electronic media have merged to develop extremely robust tools of influence (Miles 1998, p. 2132). These different tools are able to shape the behaviors, values and attitudes of a numerous numbers of individuals. Issues come up when establishing and investigating different information about complementary and alternative medicine in the media (Mayo Clinic 2007, p. 92). This is because it is presumed the media interfere with reality. Therefore, people seeking information about complementary and alternative medicine should be extra critical and conscious of the different forms of media so as to safeguard their physical and mental wellbeing. Nonetheless, emotion establishes what is recalled, focuses attention, moves an individual to take action, motivates, and shapes attitudes. This means that for an individual to decide if he will engage in complementary and alternative medicine, he depends on the media to give the relevant information. In addition, the media may have unintentional impact in the impression that the average audience view continuous health shows and advertisements related to medicine. The information gained from these different forms of media may be misinterpreted and may not be matching proper health behaviors. There is evidence that the biological category of complementary and alternative medicine therapies seem to be perceived by the media the same way as conventional medical practices (Ernst 1998, p. 67). The media seems not to favor a number of complementary and alternative medicine forms. For example, the media disputes the mind body medicine and the energy medicine. This may be because of uncritical view and defiance of evidence on the part of the media. In relation, it may be demanding for people working in the media industry to find accurate and proper information about complementary and alternative medicine therapies, for example, visualization, meditation, shock waves, magnet therapy, electric shocks, and yoga (Trivieri 2002, p. 82) The media includes their opinions and the outcomes of public opinion investigations by external companies in their news coverage. More significant, television and newspapers assist in shaping the opinions made by the citizens. Investigations have indicated that people’s views on complementary and alternative medicine are largely affected by the media, mostly, when the media gives proper examination and differing opinions (Woolhouse 2007, p. 247). In addition, outcomes from a number of investigations related to complementary and alternative medicine indicate that when novel details are ranked in relation to the level that they are conversant with guidelines, outcomes are usually minimal (Frenkel 2003, p. 327). Nevertheless, outcomes of these investigations differ on the basis of the media giving the information, and the clinical result of interest. Additionally, the capacity of media communications in the field of health care is commonly expressed in terms of their assurance for altering lifestyle and habits. Nevertheless, communication research history denotes that the most enduring discovery is that the media functions to underline behavior and attitudes. For instance, individuals who have had success with complementary and alternative medicine care will pay more attention to the form of media that promotes complementary and alternative medicine than the forms of media that dispute the accomplishments and success level of complementary and alternative medicine (Wisneski & Anderson 2005, p. 25). In contrast, media that undermines complementary and alternative medicine will be unpopular among those who engage in it (Ernst 1998, p. 667). Therefore, the media has a responsibility to air or provide information that support complementary and alternative medicine, by highlighting its advantages and the correct costs involved in the practice. The capability of the media to realize change is determined by several components and needs specified stipulations. Nevertheless, the chance of alteration is liable to be a case of how much dedication individuals have to the behavioral relationships. In addition, causing change may be a significant process under high commitment situations. This is expected to be the scenario because health behavior is commonly based on both in support by a person’s social setting and long-term reinforcement model. During the assessment of the proof of health care advertisements aired in the media, it is evident that a large number of health care advertisements are not successful among numerous people who are targeted (Eisenberg 1997, p. 26). For instance, not many individuals are convinced to try out complementary and alternative medicine because of the media’s inability to provide sufficient information on complementary and alternative medicine and adequate comparison with other alternative medical practice. The media has a duty to convince members of the public to take part in complementary and alternative medicine by giving evidence of successful practices and providing accurate information on complementary and alternative medicine (Planer 1988, p. 23). In addition, the media has a role of ensuring that all practices involved in complementary and alternative medicine receive equal cover. There should not be situations that are given more attention than others. Moreover, numerous studies conducted on complementary and alternative medicine coverage on the media indicate that the largest number of complementary and alternative medicine accounts focus more on conditions that are perceived to be more serious than others, for example, heart disease and cancer. These accounts are better highlighted than others (Armstrong & Ernst 1999, p. 440). It is disappointing that accounts about complementary and alternative medicine care for mental health issues, for example, diabetes, mental and behavioral concerns for children, pain, among other conditions perceived as minor are given less attention than those perceived as foremost, for example, heart disease and cancer. It is intricate to comprehend the difference in reporting in reporting the various health issues. The social media also plays a significant role in complementary and alternative medicine. There are a number of reasons professionals in the field of complementary and alternative medicine may decide to establish or develop their presence in the online community. First, the members of the public expect the experts in the field of complementary and alternative medicine to provide their information online (Thielst 2010, p. 67). This is a positive role of the media regarding complementary and alternative medicine. Members of the public utilize the internet to gain information on specified conditions or diseases, health experts, treatment alternatives, read rankings or reviews of local health providers and facilities, and relate with other patients experiencing the same conditions or ailments (Ernst 2012, p. 1). Health experts want to establish some influence over the content members of the public have access to and employ their online presence to enhance exposure to complementary and alternative medicine. Nevertheless, the media may be negatively used by health experts for their own advantages. The health experts may enhance their reputation by connecting with members of the public electronically. The health experts may give false information on practices relating to complementary and alternative medicine so as to develop business and favor for their practice (Horowitz, 2009, p. 136). For instance, several forms of complementary and alternative medicine are extremely risky, for example, acupuncture has caused solemn complex situations and deaths through trauma and infection, herbal medicines have also caused severe complications, and chiropractic care has caused harm through vertebral arterial dissection after treatment in the upper spinal (Hullar 1999, p. 267). A health expert may use these instances to advertise his practice as the best. This is despite the dangers that are evident in the various forms of complementary and alternative medicine. The social media also plays a positive role in advancing complementary and alternative medicine. Health expert who utilize complementary and alternative medicine can become part of the online medical expert forums to share information on intense events or topics, discuss ideas, exchange ideas with other health experts, and solve problems, for example, in homeopathy (Ernst 2012, p. 1). In addition, there has been a significant rise in the use of social networks and social media in complementary and alternative medicine. The tremendous acceptance rate of social media gives a persuasive cause for numerous health companies to influence their different benefits. Social media gives a quicker manner for various patients to link with health experts if they are disturbed about symptoms after or during complementary and alternative treatment (Squazzo 2010, p. 36). In addition, social media is plays a significant role as it helps members of the public stay engaged in the treatment. This is because members of the public have the ability to interrelate with care givers electronically to talk about their situations. Patients are finding it easy to seek advice and receive information on the various forms of complementary and alternative medicine (Bausell 2007, p. 42) Conclusion Media coverage of both conventional and complementary and alternative medicine highlights the difficulty of determining if the media enhances an existing convincing concern or identifies a concern on the public policy schedule (Frazier, Jean, Ostman & Frenick 1974, p. 251). There seems to be the need for worldwide rules and regulations that should be applicable to every health new reporting no matter what the report contains and the location of its publication. In addition, a number of studies have established that a large content of information highlighted by the media are not sensible. Most of them are first time attempts and short-runs, while the behavior alteration they are aiming at are an on-going process (Maccoby & Farquhar 1976. P. 67). Nonetheless, a number of inadequacies in the media have been identified, they include; education and feed back for health media, editorial demands to develop short accounts rapidly, an inefficiency of high level proof for complementary and alternative medicine, inadequate health information precise training, a concentration on the passionate and controversial story, and insufficient media announcements from the scientific community (Glasgow 1972, p. 14). The main thing in all this is that the media does not give sufficient information on the benefits, costs, and disadvantages of complementary and alternative medicine. References Armstrong, NC & Ernst, E 1999, ‘A randomized: double-blind; placebo-controlled trial of Bach Flower Remedy’, Perfusion, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 440. Bausell, RB 2007, Snake oil science: the truth about complementary and alternative medicine, Oxford University Press, New York. 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