CDC-TV Offers Online Health & Safety Videos
CDC.gov now broadcasts public health videos through the new CDC-TV Web page. CDC-TV videos will cover a variety of health, safety and preparedness topics as part of CDC's goal of achieving true improvements in people's lives by accelerating health impact and reducing health disparities.
CDC-TV is a new online video delivery resource available through CDC.gov. Web visitors can now view or download videos on a variety of health, safety and preparedness topics. Most videos are short and all include closed-captioning (some videos are also open-captioned), so they are accessible to all interested viewers. The library of videos will expand to include single-topic presentations as well as different video series focused on children, parents, and public health professionals.
The premiere series on CDC-TV is "Health Matters." The first segment, "Break the Silence: Stop the Violence," addresses the topic of teen dating violence. In this video, real parents and teens discuss the problem of dating violence and how to stop it before it starts. Future segments on CDC-TV will highlight a specific health, safety or preparedness issue, providing insights into each the topic, information about research or programs from CDC, and ideas on how viewers might address the issue.
Providing short, high-quality videos is part of CDC's goal to increase people's access to the information necessary to help prevent illness and injury and to protect their health and that of their families. Cheryl Lackey, Director of the Division of Creative Services in the National Center for Health Marketing, explains, "CDC is trusted by the public to have accurate and helpful health information on many topics. Having the results of CDC science available for everyone gives people a health resource they can rely on to have accurate health information. Although there are many videos on cable and satellite TV, the Internet is an increasingly important source of information for the public. CDC has worked to expand the reach of our messages to being more accessible to consumers. Mobile access to the Internet has made it even more important to have accurate health information readily available in all formats."
Is Special Software Needed to Watch CDC-TV?
Videos can be viewed using media players such as Microsoft® Windows Media Player®, but the default player for CDC-TV is Adobe® Flash® Player. Flash Player was chosen as the default based on its cross-platform capabilities – it's available on PCs and Macs – as well as its wide use.
Can the Videos Be Downloaded?
All CDC-TV videos can be downloaded. Viewers have the choice of watching a video directly from the CDC-TV Web page or downloading the video to a computer or portable media player such as an iPod® or Zone® to watch later or share with friends and family. Clinicians and public health professionals can download the videos for use in campaigns, training, or patient education. Web visitors may post videos to video-sharing sites.
Online Video and CDC-TV
CDC-TV is part of a rapidly growing medium. Statistics show that online video views are growing exponentially, to the point where the Web is now established as a primary channel for video distribution.
Over the course of 30 years, CDC's broadcast activities have evolved from instructional films, to public affairs programming, to satellite distance learning programs for public health professionals. In early 2008, the National Center for Health Marketing began developing consumer-oriented health, safety, and preparedness videos. Online videos provide CDC with an additional communication tool for delivering information to healthcare providers, public health professionals, and health consumers.
Dr. Jay Bernhardt, National Center for Health Marketing Director, notes that "online video is emerging as one of the best tools we have to reach the largest number of people and inform their health decisions by providing accurate and actionable health information. This initiative – combining the power of video to engage people with the enormous distribution channels provided by the Web – marks an exciting new chapter in our continuing efforts to provide CDC's health information and products to consumers when, where, and how they want and need them to protect the health of their families and communities."
