By Feng Wenmeng & Shi Yuhui, Research Team on “Improving China’s Health Education System”, Social Development Research Department, DRC

Research Report, Special Issue, No.70, 2019 (Total 1698) 2019-9-18

Abstract: Mass media refers to the specialized agencies for producing, processing and disseminating information in modern society. Since the industrial revolutions, mass media has become the major carrier of information dissemination in the circumstances of technological progress and deeper social division of labor, affecting all aspects of human social life. This report, focusing on mass media and health education, aims to discuss the role, features and problems of the mass media in the development of China’s health education system. The research findings show that changes in the economic and social environment and technological progress have made the role of mass media in the field of health education increasingly prominent. Mass media has also seen the transformation from the traditional media to the emergence of the new media. Overall, the role of the mass media in health education is becoming increasingly important with its wide coverage, timely dissemination and rich forms of expression. However, problems such as information distortion and lack of supervision are still restricting the effects of the mass media. To give fuller play to the role of the mass media in health education, multiple measures need to be adopted.

Key words: mass media, health education, health literacy, health information literacy