Radio actors pose before recording 'Staying Well in Camberwell,' one of two radio soap operas created by Media for Health to spread a message of healthy living in Jefferson County and beyond. (Wynter Byrd)What do a mayoral election, intergenerational strife and a prank-calling radio host have to do with health?
When it comes to radio drama, everything.
Those topics and more are at the heart of two new radio soap operas designed to get a new health message to a hard-to-reach audience. One, "Staying Well in Camberwell," follows two black families, their neighbors and friends as they struggle to lose weight and quit smoking, among other hurdles. The other, the Spanish-language "Promesas y Traiciones," or promises and betrayals, features a teenaged girl from an immigrant family who wants to go to college.
ON THE AIR
The show:
'Staying Well in Camberwell'
The plot:
Restaurant owner and single mom Gabby Dubois is struggling to take care of her family and her business. Martin Elliot is running for mayor, but his wife has secrets. And radio personality and club owner Bravo Bob is always stirring the pot.
When it airs:
Thursdays at 2 p.m. on WAGG 610 AM (re-airs Fridays at 7 p.m.), and Sundays at 10 p.m. on 98.7 KISS FM.
Also at:
The show:
'Promesas y Traiciones'
The plot:
Esteban Vidal, a hard-working immigrant from Mexico, is struggling with his life and with his family, especially his teenage daughter, Evelyn, and his ambitious wife, Concha.
When it airs:
Saturdays at 10 a.m. on La Jefa, available at WJHX 620 AM Lexington, WZGX 1450 Bessemer and WQCR 1500 Alabaster.
Also at:
Both are full of spiteful characters, overwhelming odds and will-she-or-won't-she cliffhangers. But they're also a way to get listeners to think about ways to prevent some of the major health problems that plague Alabama, such as obesity, diabetes and heart and lung disease.
"We all struggle," whether it's to lose weight, exercise more or quit smoking, said Betsy Hunter, executive director of the Birmingham-based Media for Health, which created the two shows. "So the characters struggle, they fail, they struggle again, and in the end you want them to succeed."
Media for Health produces the dramas for Champions for Health, which is an umbrella organization for nonprofit groups working under about $13 million in federal grants to reduce obesity and smoking in Jefferson County.
Radio dramas that spread public health messages have been used overseas but are relatively new to this country. And they have been shown to work, from increasing contraceptive use in Ethiopia to limiting the practice of fishing with dynamite in Papua, New Guinea.
Regular listeners to "BodyLove," an earlier show created by the University of Alabama at Birmingham that has been passed on to Media for Health, said in surveys that the show influenced their decisions, making them more likely to be screened for high blood pressure, diabetes and depression.
This time, Hunter said, her organization worked even harder to make sure the new shows were entertaining first, hiring writers from New York and New Mexico to design the shows, each of which has 48 three- to five-minute episodes recorded in Jefferson County by local radio actors.
The dramas are then embedded into longer call-in shows hosted by local radio personalities. "Promesas" runs Saturday mornings at 10 on Spanish-language AM station La Jefa, where it is hosted by Ernesto Usma. "Camberwell" plays on the AM gospel channel WAGG 610 and on KISS 98.7 FM.
The episodes are designed to hook listeners in and give a jumping-off point for the discussion and calls that follow, Hunter said. On one episode of "Promesas," for example, teenager Evelyn has to decide whether to take up smoking to fit in. In another, characters have to fight for access to a soccer field.
On "Camberwell," main character Gabby Dubois and mayoral candidate Martin Elliott get into a battle over Southern cooking and why it's unhealthful.
"If they're choosing that kind of food, then they shouldn't be allowed to think for themselves," the ambitious city councilman rails to his adviser.
"It's a lot of fun," said Clarissa Smith, the doctor who hosts the show on WAGG and brings on guests like a community gardener or a doctor specializing in diabetes to answer questions about how to cook without refined sugar or pork.
"People want information, but they want it simply and they want it entertaining and they want it informative," Smith said. "What we've done is take the health information and break it down into simple terms."
Simplicity is important, Hunter said, but so is tailoring the message to the listeners. To do that, Media for Health held sessions during the creation of each show to ask members of the community what's important to them. And they've included other storylines that branch out beyond the basic message of quitting smoking, getting fit and losing weight, such as domestic violence and talking to children.
There's also an effort to follow up on the shows with online surveys and trying to get people engaged through Facebook or other social media so the creators can track their impact.
But ultimately, it all comes down to the story itself.
"You have to hit people emotionally if what you're talking about is changing health behavior," Hunter said. "Because the consequences are real, not just at the individual level, but they're devastating at the family level and at the community level, too."
Join the conversation by clicking to comment or email Wolfson at hwolfson@bhamnews.com.