HEALTHSCOPE - A MODEL FOR A LOW GOAT HEALTH-EDUCATION PROGRAM USING COMMERCIAL TELEVISION

HealthScope is a health education program based on the Health Belief M odel that uses television and pl int materials. It was designed for a number of agendas-(a) a desire by health educators to provide health i nformation to a broad audience ata reasonable cost, (b) a desire by th e local medical association to promote its role in prevention and prim ary care, and (c) a desire by commercial television to expand its cove rage of local health issues in a cost-effective way. In its initial su mmer series, HealthScope included 10 weekly television programs that f ocused on various aspects of disease prevention and health promotion a nd answered viewers' questions on the air. Each program was followed b y a bank of physicians answering questions on the telephone for 90 min utes. Corresponding fact sheers were distributed through a local pharm acy chain. A ''healthy weekend'' sweepstakes contest also was held. In termediate outcome measures indicated that HealthScope had a broad rea ch and stimulated viewers to seek additional information about health. At the same time, the program generated revenue for the commercial te levision station.