Harvard Uses the Media to Promote Children's Health, Well-Being

Researchers at Harvard and across the nation are making an extraordinary number of advances that have significant implications for children's health and development. Yet, while this new research has the potential to lead to real improvements in the lives of children, well-informed media coverage and public awareness of these breakthroughs are virtually nonexistent.

To counteract this lack of coverage and to educate the public about the challenges facing children today, the Harvard Center for Children's Health has launched the Harvard Media Forum on Children æ a yearlong media series designed to prompt national discourse on critical issues facing our nation's children.

More than 100 faculty members at Harvard conduct research related to children. Their work focuses on topics as diverse as developing strategies for preventing youth violence, understanding the impact of welfare reform on children's well-being, and discovering genetic information that will prevent birth defects. This research has tremendous implications for public policy, but its utility is limited unless it can be effectively communicated to those who can use it æ parents, policymakers, educators, health and social service providers, and business leaders across the nation.

"We see the media as our greatest ally for educating millions of Americans about the latest research advances in children's health and well-being," said Deborah Denhart, director of programs for the Center for Children's Health. ÒThrough the Media Forum on Children, we are working to broaden the amount and sophistication of reporting on issues affecting children, with the end goal of increasing the public's awareness and understanding of the challenges facing children."

On April 15, the first Media Forum on Children, which focused on child care in the United States, was held at the Harvard Club in New York City. Harvard College graduate and current ABC News political correspondent Farai Chideya moderated the event, which featured several expert speakers, including former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum; D'Vera Topol, president of the Travelers Foundation; Philip Coltoff, executive director of the Children's Aid Society; Lisbeth Schorr, Harvard University lecturer; and Antony Ward, visiting scholar, New York University. These speakers provided information and insights into what constitutes quality child care, the consequences of providing (or not) providing it, the delivery of care, and its cost.

More than 40 people attended the Forum. Among them were senior print and broadcast journalists, editors, producers from NBC News, and journalists representing a variety of national magazines, including Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, and Working Mother.These publications and news outlets reach a total of approximately 20 million Americans.

Building on a History of Success

The Media Forum on Children is the successor to the Harvard Health Media Forum. This successful series of sessions was organized during the 1980s by School of Public Health faculty Lilian Cheung and Jay Winsten, and covered a wide range of public health issues, such as screening for breast cancer and AIDS prevention. Moderated by Jane Brody, personal health columnist for The New York Times, these sessions spawned more than 100 published or broadcast news stories and were regularly attended by journalists and media executives. The quality of information provided at these sessions resulted in sophisticated coverage of health issues.

Future presentations of the Media Forum on Children will feature experts from Harvard, the government, the private sector, and community organizations. The experts will present new data and summarize scientific investigations, clarify controversial issues, identify emerging topics, and analyze the impact of public policy on children's welfare. Topics to be covered include strategies for preventing teen pregnancy, the development of

therapies to prevent pediatric AIDS, programs to help children succeed in school, interventions to prevent childhood injury and death, and the latest research on how diet and exercise during childhood affect the development of adult diseases such as cardiovascular illness and cancer.