SynthesisImplementation science : IS2017
Using media to impact health policy-making: an integrative systematic review.
Synthesis in Implementation science : IS, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Using narratives to impact health policy-making: a systematic review.Health research policy and systems · 2019Pooled it
- Cluster Randomized Trial of Teens Against Tobacco Use: Youth Empowerment for Tobacco Control in El Paso, Texas.American journal of preventive medicine · 2019Trial
- Advancing Support for Electronic Cigarette Control Policies in the United States: The Impact of Theory-Based Messaging Strategies.Preventive medicine reports · 2025Article
- Using Social Media to Disseminate Behavior Change Interventions: Scoping Review of Systematic Reviews.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Enhancing the role of mass media in the translation of evidence from health policy and systems research in Nigeria.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Content analysis of media coverage on smoke-free policy implementation in ten low- and middle-income countries.Tobacco induced diseases · 2025Article
- Media depictions of primary care teleconsultation safety: a thematic analysis of UK newspapers.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2024Article
- Faster and farther towards the abyss: global health accelerators instead of tangible changes.Globalization and health · 2024Article
- Unveiling viewpoints on national food environment policies in the Dutch newspaper discourse: an interpretative media content analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
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- Evidence synthesis to policy: development and implementation of an impact-oriented approach from the Eastern Mediterranean Region.Health research policy and systems · 2023Review
- Experiences and learnings of pharmacists, students, and clinical assistants working collaboratively in a COVID-19 vaccination clinic: a qualitative study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2023Article
- Print media coverage of breastfeeding in Great Britain: Positive or negative?Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- Analysis of content and online public responses to media articles that raise awareness of the opt-out system of consent to organ donation in England.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Article
- Overview of national health reporting in the EU and quality criteria for public health reports - results of the Joint Action InfAct.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Article
- Breastfeeding media coverage and beliefs during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico: implications for breastfeeding equity.International journal for equity in health · 2021Article
- Evidence-Based Message Strategies to Increase Public Support for State Investment in Early Childhood Education: Results from a Longitudinal Panel Experiment.The Milbank quarterly · 2021Article
- Media coverage and framing of road traffic safety in India.BMJ global health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionMedia interventions can potentially play a major role in influencing health policies. This integrative systematic review aimed to assess the effects of planned media interventions-including social media-on the health policy-making process.
methodsEligible study designs included randomized and non-randomized designs, economic studies, process evaluation studies, stakeholder analyses, qualitative methods, and case studies. We electronically searched Medline, EMBASE, Communication and Mass Media Complete, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and the WHO Global Health Library. We followed standard systematic review methodology for study selection, data abstraction, and risk of bias assessment.
resultsTwenty-one studies met our eligibility criteria: 10 evaluation studies using either quantitative (n = 7) or qualitative (n = 3) designs and 11 case studies. None of the evaluation studies were on social media. The findings of the evaluation studies suggest that media interventions may have a positive impact when used as accountability tools leading to prioritizing and initiating policy discussions, as tools to increase policymakers' awareness, as tools to influence policy formulation, as awareness tools leading to policy adoption, and as awareness tools to improve compliance with laws and regulations. In one study, media-generated attention had a negative effect on policy advocacy as it mobilized opponents who defeated the passage of the bills that the media intervention advocated for. We judged the confidence in the available evidence as limited due to the risk of bias in the included studies and the indirectness of the evidence.
conclusionThere is currently a lack of reliable evidence to guide decisions on the use of media interventions to influence health policy-making. Additional and better-designed, conducted, and reported primary research is needed to better understand the effects of media interventions, particularly social media, on health policy-making processes, and the circumstances under which media interventions are successful.
trial registrationPROSPERO 2015: CRD42015020243.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.