TY - JOUR
T1 - Public Figure Announcements About Cancer and Opportunities for Cancer Communication
T2 - A Review and Research Agenda
AU - Noar, Seth M.
AU - Willoughby, Jessica Fitts
AU - Myrick, Jessica Gall
AU - Brown, Jennifer
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was funded by the University Cancer Research Fund and the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 2012 Kentucky Conference on Health Communication in Lexington, KY.
PY - 2014/5
Y1 - 2014/5
N2 - Announcements by public figures and celebrities about cancer diagnosis or death represent significant events in public life. But what are the substantive effects of such events, if any? The purpose of this article is to systematically review studies that examined the impact of public figure cancer announcements on cancer-oriented outcomes. Using comprehensive search procedures, we identified k = 19 studies that examined 11 distinct public figures. The most commonly studied public figures were Jade Goody, Kylie Minogue, Nancy Reagan, and Steve Jobs, with the most common cancers studied being breast (53%), cervical (21%), and pancreatic (21%) cancer. Most studies assessed multiple outcome variables, including behavioral outcomes (k = 15), media coverage (k = 10), information seeking (k = 8), cancer incidence (k = 3), and interpersonal communication (k = 2). Results fairly consistently indicated that cancer announcements from public figures had meaningful effects on many, if not most, of these outcome variables. While such events essentially act as naturally occurring interventions, the effects tend to be relatively short term. Gaps in this literature include few contemporary studies of high-profile public figures in the United States and a general lack of theory-based research. Directions for future research as well as implications for cancer communication and prevention are discussed.
AB - Announcements by public figures and celebrities about cancer diagnosis or death represent significant events in public life. But what are the substantive effects of such events, if any? The purpose of this article is to systematically review studies that examined the impact of public figure cancer announcements on cancer-oriented outcomes. Using comprehensive search procedures, we identified k = 19 studies that examined 11 distinct public figures. The most commonly studied public figures were Jade Goody, Kylie Minogue, Nancy Reagan, and Steve Jobs, with the most common cancers studied being breast (53%), cervical (21%), and pancreatic (21%) cancer. Most studies assessed multiple outcome variables, including behavioral outcomes (k = 15), media coverage (k = 10), information seeking (k = 8), cancer incidence (k = 3), and interpersonal communication (k = 2). Results fairly consistently indicated that cancer announcements from public figures had meaningful effects on many, if not most, of these outcome variables. While such events essentially act as naturally occurring interventions, the effects tend to be relatively short term. Gaps in this literature include few contemporary studies of high-profile public figures in the United States and a general lack of theory-based research. Directions for future research as well as implications for cancer communication and prevention are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1080/10410236.2013.764781
DO - 10.1080/10410236.2013.764781
M3 - Article
C2 - 23845155
AN - SCOPUS:84897612744
SN - 1041-0236
VL - 29
SP - 445
EP - 461
JO - Health Communication
JF - Health Communication
IS - 5
ER -
