The Foundation enters into partnerships with major media companies to create public education campaigns on important health issues, and also studies the impact of the media on health.

Entertainment Media Partnerships

The Foundation partners with media organizations to develop multi-faceted public education campaigns on important health issues. A particular focus of our Entertainment Media Partnerships is on reaching young people with information about HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Our partnerships combine targeted public service messages with longer-form special programming or editorial and other forms of outreach. We provide complementary free resources through toll-free hotlines and/or websites that reach millions of young people. The Foundation works collaboratively with its media partners providing both expert substantive guidance and participating in production and operations.

Among the Foundation's other current or recent media partners are: the global cross-platform KNOW HIV/AIDS partnership with Viacom; the Emmy-award winning Fight for Your Rights: Protect Yourself campaign with MTV U.S. and Staying Alive with MTV International; Rap it Up with BET; and Enterate/Protegate with Univision. 

The Global Media AIDS Initiative (GMAI) was conceived of and organized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

More Information on Individual Entertainment Media Partnerships

Program for the Study of Media and Health

The Foundation conducts research, evaluations, and analysis on the impact of media on the public’s health. The purpose of the research is to help inform policymakers, journalists, healthcare providers, and the public. A particular focus is on the exposure to and the impact of media on young people, as well as the public policies effecting access to media.

Major research projects include such topics as how teens use the Internet for health information; the amount of time children of all ages spend watching TV, playing video games, using computers, and reading; sexual messages on television; how health policy issues are portrayed on TV’s medical dramas; what viewers learn from health information in entertainment shows; and the impact of media-based public health campaigns. The Foundation also studies public policies on related media topics, including public service advertising on television, TV ratings, the V-Chip, and the impact of Internet filtering. In addition, the Foundation publishes the Teen Media Monitor, a marketing guide to youth media trends, available only to non-profits conducting public education campaigns among young people. Finally, the Program publishes a series of Fact Sheets on children and media, including such topics as children and video games, TV violence, children and the news media, parents and media, and teens and the Internet.

More information on the Program for the Study of Media and Health