Kaiser Family Foundation Releases Survey on Impact of HIV/AIDS Public Education Campaigns on African Americans
NPR's "Morning Edition" on Friday reported on a new national survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation on the impact of HIV/AIDS media campaigns on African Americans (Wilson, "Morning Edition," NPR, 10/15). Viacom and the Kaiser Family Foundation in January 2003 launched KNOW HIV/AIDS, which is a campaign aimed at raising HIV/AIDS awareness through public service announcements, television and radio programming and free print and online content. The campaign -- which includes media placements valued at more than $200 million in 2004 -- is targeted at both the general population and groups hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, such as people under age 25, minorities, women and men who have sex with men (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/14). In addition to KNOW HIV/AIDS, the Kaiser Family Foundation and BET launched the Rap It Up campaign, which is the "single-largest public education effort on HIV/AIDS and related issues directed toward the African-American community." Over six years, the Rap It Up campaign has aired 31 public service announcements on HIV/AIDS awareness on BET, and these PSAs have run more than 9,000 times over the last four years.
Survey Results
In order to assess HIV/AIDS public education campaigns, the Kaiser Family foundation surveyed by telephone a nationally representative sample of 800 African Americans ages 18 and older between March 15 and May 11. Approximately 82% of the respondents reported having seen at least one of the PSAs or shows asked about in the survey, with 94% of respondents ages 18-24 reporting having seen one of the PSAs or shows. In addition, the Rap It Up campaign on BET was "widely recognized" among African Americans, with 92% of African Americans ages 18-24 recognizing the name and 58% of respondents overall having heard of the campaign's "brand," according to the survey. The majority of African Americans who had seen Rap It Up or KNOW HIV/AIDS content said it had a "positive impact" on them, with 85% saying that the PSAs or shows "really made me think" and 82% saying that the content "gets people talking," according to the survey. However, 44% of respondents said the awareness campaigns "go in one ear and out the other" and 21% said that the campaigns "exaggerate the problem" of HIV/AIDS (KFF survey, 10/18).
The complete report is available online.
The complete NPR segment is available online in RealPlayer.