Summary: Humorous interventions and conversations could be effective ways to influence people’s behavior and intentions surrounding their health.
Source: Monash University
Laughter may very well be the best medicine for a healthy life, according to research released today.
Published online in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, “A systematic review of humour-based strategies for addressing public health priorities”, found that humour interventions could be effective to influence people’s behaviour and intentions around their health.
Uniquely, the research was conducted by Scottish comedian and women’s health physiotherapist Elaine Miller, Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, in collaboration with a team of Monash University researchers led by Monash Warwick Alliance Professor Helen Skouteris.
“I have seen comedy used to address the most taboo subjects on stage,” Ms Miller said. “My field is incontinence which is often very embarrassing for people to talk about, but because laughter is universal it has the potential to reach people broadly.
“This robust, systematic review analysed 13 studies over the past 10 years whereby humour had been used to communicate serious messages covering topics such as mental health, breast and testicular cancer self-examination, safe sex, skin cancer and binge drinking.
“What we found is that humour can act as an effective vehicle for delivering messages people might find fear-inducing or threatening. Humour, if used well, can be an emotional buffer that breaks down some of that fear so the underlying messages reach the intended audience and influence their behaviours and attitudes.”
The study highlighted a number of factors that could impact the effectiveness of a humour-based message, including the level and type of fear or perceived threat, the ‘taboo’ nature of the topic and an individual’s taste in humour.
“It’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach. A poorly judged joke can ruin a health campaign’s message, a therapeutic relationship, a gig; or all three of those at once. Humour is very complex and further research to examine humour and public health promotion is certainly warranted,” Ms Miller said.
“What this study also highlighted is, there’s a lot of us who work in health promotion who can learn from commercial advertising and public safety campaigns, such as road and rail safety where humour has been shown to attract attention, promote the memory of and positive attitudes towards an advertisement, brand or message.”
Professor Skouteris, Director of the Centre of Research Excellence in Health in Preconception and Pregnancy (CRE HiPP) and Head of Monash University’s Health and Social Care Unit within the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, said the study was an “encouraging first step” towards implementing humour-based messaging more broadly across public health.
“Humour is enjoyable. People are drawn to it – they want to look at it and be part of it,” Professor Skouteris said.
“Importantly, this review highlighted that humour can be utilised as a tool to encourage conversation and sharing. It’s not just a way to send a message but actually encourages people to talk about it and be open with others, which we believe can lead to influencing society’s perceptions and behaviours around important public health prevention messages.”
Professor Skouteris said further research was necessary to examine how humour worked specifically in public health settings.
“Most of the research done to date has focused on humour and health outcomes in clinical settings so it’s important we look more broadly at how humour may influence behavioural intentions and public health outcomes out of those acute health settings,” she said.
Ms Miller added that she also hoped to take some of this further research on the comedy circuit.
“I’m interested in sub-clinical women, those who have incontinence but who don’t seek help. I’m planning to tour my show and survey the audience to establish prevalence of pelvic health conditions and whether a comedy show can encourage help-seeking,” she said.
About this health and psychology research news
Author: Helen Skouteris
Source: Monash University
Contact: Helen Skouteris – Monash University
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access.
“A systematic review of humour-based strategies for addressing public health priorities” by Elaine Miller, Heidi J. Bergmeier, Claire Blewitt, Amanda O’Connor, Helen Skouteris. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
Abstract
A systematic review of humour-based strategies for addressing public health priorities
Objective:
To systematically review research into the use of humour-based health promotion strategies for addressing public health issues during the past 10 years.
Method:
The systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
Results:
Thirteen studies were included in the review. Mental health, breast and testicular cancer self-examination, safe sex, skin cancer and binge drinking public health issues were targeted. Humour-based strategies were used to influence health attitudes and behaviours, encourage interpersonal sharing to indirectly affect health behaviour, and investigate the level of threat and humour associated with positive outcomes. Findings provided some evidence to support the use of humour-based strategies as determined by the right combination of audience characteristics, level of humour and amusement evoked, and message persuasion and behaviour change methods underpinning strategies.
Conclusion:
Methodologies varied limiting comparability, although overall results indicate that humour-based health promotion strategies may be a useful tool for increasing awareness and help-seeking behaviour for public health priorities, particularly those associated with stigma.
Implications for public health:
Humour interventions vary widely because there can never be a standardised approach to evoking humour. Further research examining humour and public health promotion is needed.
