Health Media Literacy is a 21st Century Essential Skill

Optimal health is not just the absence of illness or disease; it is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. I can’t think of anything more challenging right now, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.  While we may be locked down temporarily, we must not lock ourselves in to the status quo of formalized schooling—including what constitutes core curriculum. Disparate times call for disparate measures, so to speak.

McNormalizing the McNugget

Food media literacy is essential to health. Achieving both requires not just unpacking the ingredients of foods but also decoding how the messages about them are packaged and delivered for ideological consumption. McDonald’s is masterful at (among other things) feeding public demand for “behind the scenes” information to dispel rumors about their food products while at the same time downplaying their potential hazards [click title to read more]

Whole Curriculum Development Model

This is a presentation given by Vanessa Domine (now Greenwood) at the 2016 Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) Conference on April 1st. The title is, “A Whole Curriculum Development Model for Critical Media Health Literacy Among Adolescents” as part of the Session “Health Literacy: Communicating and Collaborating for Better Understanding.” Audio stream and supporting documents are located below the presentation.

The Mediatrician Can Help

CMCHThe Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) was founded in 2003 by Michael Rich— a pediatrician, father, and ex Hollywood filmmaker. Located at Boston Children’s Hospital, CMCH is an academic research center with the mission “to educate and empower children and those who care for them to create and consume media in ways that optimize children’s health and development.” It is largely funded through grants and philanthropy and their projects fall into three categories: Read more