The impact of media coverage of health issues on public decisions and behaviors

Media one of the influential forces and tools is shaping the opinion and behaviors of individuals, as it contributes to spreading awareness about various issues, including health issues, The importance of media coverage of health issues lies in its ability to present information in a way that contributes to raising awareness among individuals and motiving them to adopt healthy lifestyles, sometimes, it may lead to adverse results if the information is convey in inaccurate of exaggerated manner, This study aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the impact of media coverage of health issues on public decisions and behaviors, and to explore how to improve media coverage to achieve the greatest possible effectiveness, The study relied on the theory of media dependence using the survey method, and using the questionnaire from that was applied to a sample of 400 individuals.      
The results of the study indicated that the media has a clear and tangible impact on the public health's decisions and behaviors, weather through media message, breaking, news, or the influence of celebrities and influencers on social media, the impact extend to include awareness, daily behaviors, and healthy habits, The study proved the validity of the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship with statistical significance between the level of public relation on the media to obtain health information and the level of influence of health habits, the study also proved the existence of statistically significant differences in the impact of media coverage of health issues on the public's decisions and behaviors according to educational and economic level, and there are no differences according to the variables of age and gender.