Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms - A digital evaluation of an online health-focused serial drama in West Africa

Q: What was the goal of this study?

To evaluate whether watching the “C’est la Vie!” Season 2 online influenced health knowledge, attitudes, and norms in francophone West Africa.

Q: What outcomes showed differences between viewers and non-viewers?

Viewers were more likely to correctly use emergency contraception and to believe that female circumcision should end, and they had greater odds of pro-health responses across key topics.

Q: What does the study conclude about online entertainment-education content?

As health education adapts to new media, online entertainment-education can provide a novel approach to examining impacts on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Melati

Measuring the effects of online entertainment-education, this study evaluates whether watching “C’est la Vie!” Season 2 in francophone West Africa changes health knowledge, attitudes, and norms (KAN). Viewers and non-viewers were recruited from Facebook and YouTube and assessed through an online longitudinal cohort design between July 2019 and October 2019. Participants completed baseline and up to three follow-up surveys aligned to specific stories, covering topics including sexual violence, emergency contraception, and female circumcision.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Entertainment-Education Literature Context

UCLA UCLA Previously Published Works Title Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms: A digital evaluation of an online health-focused serial drama in West Africa Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58z3v4zh](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/58z3v4zh) Journal Journal of Global Health, 12 ISSN 2047-2978 Authors Massey, Philip M Kearney, Matthew D Rideau, Alexandre et al. Publication Date 2022 DOI 10.7189/jogh.12.04039 Copyright Information This work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution License, available at [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Electronic The online supplementary material: version of this article contains supplementary material. © 2022 The Author(s) JoGH © 2022 ISoGH Cite as: Massey PM, Kearne MD, Rideau A, Peterson A, GipsonJ, Nianogo Roch, Bornstein M, Prelip M, Glik D. Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms: A digital evaluation of an online health-focused serial drama in West Africa. J Glob Health 2022;12:04039 . Measuring impact of storyline engagement on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms: A digital evaluation of an online healthfocused serial drama in West Africa Philip M Massey1, Matthew D Kearney2, Alexandre Rideau3, Adam Peterson4, Jessica D Gipson5, Roch A Nianogo6, Marta Bornstein7, Michael L Prelip5, Deborah C Glik5 1Department of Health, Human Performance, and Recreation, College of Education and Health Professions, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA 2Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA 3African Health and Education Network (RAES), Dakar, Senegal 4Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA 5Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA 6Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California, USA 7College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA Correspondence to: Dr. Philip M. Massey Center for Public Health and Technology College of Education and Health Professions University of Arkansas 346 NWest Avenue Fayetteville Arkansas, 72701 USA [masseyp@uark.edu](masseyp@uark.edu) Background “Cest la Vie!”(CLV) is a serial drama that entertains, educates, and promotes positive health behaviors and social change for West African audiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if watching the CLV Season 2 series online had an impact on people’s health knowledge, attitudes, and norms, focusing on populations in francophone West Africa. Methods Between July 2019 and October 2019, viewers of CLV and non-viewers were recruited from Facebook and YouTube. We conducted an online longitudinal cohort study that assessed changes in health knowledge, attitudes, and norms (KAN) between these groups. Participants completed a baseline survey prior to the online airing and up to three follow-up surveys corresponding to specific health stories in the series, including sexual violence, emergency contraception, and female circumcision. We used descriptive statistics to describe viewers and non-viewers, and an item response theory (IRT) analysis to identify the effect of viewing CLV on overall KAN. Results A total of 1674 respondents participated in the study. One in four participants (23%, n = 388) had seen one of the three storylines from CLV Season 2 (ie, CLV viewers). At follow-up, viewers were more likely than non-viewers to know when to correctly use emergency contraception (P < 0 .001) and to believe that the practice of female circum

FAQs

What was the goal of this study?

To evaluate whether watching the “C’est la Vie!” Season 2 online influenced health knowledge, attitudes, and norms in francophone West Africa.

How were participants and follow-up assessments conducted?

Viewers and non-viewers were recruited from Facebook and YouTube, and an online longitudinal cohort study measured KAN changes using baseline and up to three story-aligned follow-up surveys.

What outcomes showed differences between viewers and non-viewers?

Viewers were more likely to correctly use emergency contraception and to believe that female circumcision should end, and they had greater odds of pro-health responses across key topics.

What does the study conclude about online entertainment-education content?

As health education adapts to new media, online entertainment-education can provide a novel approach to examining impacts on health knowledge, attitudes, and norms.

Aug 26, 2026

Uploaded by Melati