Using Television to Create More Favorable Attitudes Toward Community Facilities for Deinstitutionalized Psychiatric Patients

Prebroadcast screenings were organized to measure the impact of a TV documentary, "Back Wards to Back Streets", on information levels, attitudes toward community-based treatment facilities, and beliefs about mental illness. Audiences of mental health professionals, political decision makers, and public TV subscribers were invited to screenings in New York City and Albany, New York. Based on an experimental design, half of each audience was randomly selected to respond to both pre- and postfilm questionnaires; others responded to postfilm questionnaires only. Among the New York City audience the film raised information levels, created more favorable attitudes, and changed beliefs about mental illness. One methodological implication is that small-scale screenings are a viable technique for studying TV's impact.