Infotainment in Health Communication: Benefits, Drawbacks, and Importance

New media has led to the rise of infotainment use in our media delivery landscape. Infotainment (also known as entertainment education or edutainment) refers to media content that uses entertainment methods to spread information. Its purpose is to educate audiences on a variety of topics in an enjoyable form that is more engaging than traditional instructional methods. Information is presented to audiences in a way that is easy to understand through storytelling, humor, visuals, and dramatic methods that maintain viewer interest. This style can be seen in television, documentaries, video games, podcasts, online videos, social media, graphic novels, and other various media.

Benefits

The benefits of infotainment use can include ease of consumption, versatility, and educational impact. Not only are audiences exposed to entertainment-based information more due to the increased content volume new media provides, but audiences can also better understand and easily digest information due to ease of consumption. The versatility of infotainment also plays a role. Information can be presented in a variety of methods due to new media delivery and technology. This allows communicators to tailor information to different audience needs and media platforms. As health communicators, we can reach new audiences this way. The entertainment aspect of infotainment can foster creativity about subjects that increase viewer interest and promote individual research. Infotainment also has the ability to impact cultural and social climate. It can raise awareness about social or cultural topics to encourage dialogue, shape public opinion, and influence viewer behavior. The benefits of using infotainment can ultimately lead to greater audience knowledge, retention, and possibly behavior change.

Drawbacks

The potential drawbacks of infotainment can include superficiality of information. Segments can lack depth and details to prioritize entertainment and viewer enjoyment instead of delivering factually accurate information. This may foster an uninformed public on critical or serious issues. It's also possible that information is distorted or sensationalized to seem more appealing to audiences. These exaggerated facts or evidence can contribute to the spread of misinformation.

Importance

In health communication, infotainment can be a useful tool for presenting information to audiences in a way that will have a lasting impact. Information presented this way can be more appealing to viewers than traditional educational or instructional methods because of the creative aspects. Audience appeal can increase engagement and possibly retention. Infotainment is one way for us to increase the likelihood of our audiences remembering and implementing the information we relay to them.

When used correctly–in a way that maximizes benefits and minimizes drawbacks–infotainment can be a powerful tool to engage and educate audiences. It can play an important role in helping health communicators convey messages in an impactful way.

For additional information on the use of infotainment for health communication, please see:

• Entertainment Education and Health in the United States | Kaiser Family Foundation

• Entertainment-Education for Better Health | The INFO Project Center for Communication Programs, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

By: Abigail Johnson