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Presentation Type
Presentation
Full Name of Faculty Mentor
Corinne Dalelio, Communication, Media, and Culture
Major
Communication
Second Major
Public Health
Presentation Abstract
In the real world, discussing end-of-life (EOL) care is often shied away from due to its sensitive nature. The same cannot be said for the world of soap operas, where characters frequently live, die, and resurrect. While few research studies related to EOL care and soap operas have only been conducted within the last decade (Cruz-Oliver et al, 2016; Mitchell et al, 2019), no research has analyzed the portrayal of EOL health care in U.S. television soap operas. Through a content analysis, I have examined episodes from the top 4 daytime television soap operas in the United States for patient/physician conversations related to EOL care. Each conversation was coded for topic, tone, and theme. The results of this content analysis will be beneficial for future work done by public health leaders and communication researchers.
Location
Virtual Session Room 3
Start Date
21-4-2021 5:30 PM
End Date
21-4-2021 5:50 PM
Disciplines
Communication
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Danielle, "The (Final) Days of Our Lives: An Analysis of End-of-Life Health Care in Soap Operas" (2021). Undergraduate Research Competition. 30.
https://digitalcommons.coastal.edu/ugrc/2021/fullconference/30
The (Final) Days of Our Lives: An Analysis of End-of-Life Health Care in Soap Operas
Virtual Session Room 3
In the real world, discussing end-of-life (EOL) care is often shied away from due to its sensitive nature. The same cannot be said for the world of soap operas, where characters frequently live, die, and resurrect. While few research studies related to EOL care and soap operas have only been conducted within the last decade (Cruz-Oliver et al, 2016; Mitchell et al, 2019), no research has analyzed the portrayal of EOL health care in U.S. television soap operas. Through a content analysis, I have examined episodes from the top 4 daytime television soap operas in the United States for patient/physician conversations related to EOL care. Each conversation was coded for topic, tone, and theme. The results of this content analysis will be beneficial for future work done by public health leaders and communication researchers.