CRITIQUE OF BBC’S HEALTH CHECK AND HOPE FM’S HEALTHY LIVING. BY JULIAN W. KAMAU 08-0410

CRITIQUE OF BBC’S HEALTH CHECK AND HOPE FM’S HEALTHY LIVING. BY JULIAN W. KAMAU 08-0410


It was after a lot of patience and tolerance that I finally found a program in BBC with the same format that I was listening to. I finally settled on Health Check that is normally aired on BBC on Sundays from 2.30pm to 3.00pm,Mondays and Tuesdays from 4.30pm to 5.00pm and I will be comparing this program with Healthy living that is normally aired on Hope Fm on Fridays form 7.00am to 7.30am. These two programs are normally about health and hence I found it much better to compare the two.

Healthy Living and Health Check

Healthy living normally involves the host James Okumu and the guest is normally Nancy Kiboro. James okumu is the hosts of the show called activate which runs from 6am to 9am. In the mid of this show is when the program healthy living is aired. The host James okumu normally interviews Nancy Kiboro who is a nutritionist on health issues. In all the episodes that I have listened to she is normally the only guest.

Health check on the other side is a program that is aired on Sundays from 4pm to 4.30pm. The host is Claudia Hammond and she normally interviews different professions in the medical field on certain health issues and diseases.

BBC
6TH September 2010

On this day Claudia was discussing about recovered eyesight. She mainly focused on the story of a man who had lost his eyesight at 10months old and later regained it at 52years. The man later died two years after regaining his sight. Claudia discussed at length about this issue and even interviewed some guests. One of them was a consultant by the name William Ayliffe and the other was Dr. Steven gakin of the department of visual neuroscience at University College London. This show was quite informative and Claudia was such a good interviewer as she asked relevant questions coupled up with follow up questions. There was no music at all only instrumental music at the background. The microphone was also properly used.

Hope fm
10TH September 2010

On this particular day James okumu was joined by Nancy Kiboro at around 7am and the topic of discussion on this day was about increase in metabolism. Nancy explained in details on how one can increase their metabolism. She gave the first five steps that one should take so as to increase their metabolism rate. This programme is quite educative as well and they take short commercial breaks where they play a variety of music. As they interact during the show one can feel the rapport that they have with each other and this helps create a sober mood during the show. There is proper use of the microphone and especially James okumu is able to communicate with the audience at a personal level.

BBC
13TH September 2010

On this day Claudia was commemorating Sir Patrick Manson who is known as the father of tropical medicine. He discovered that mosquitoes could spread diseases from one person to another. It was exactly 150 years since Sir Patrick started studying medicine at a local University in Scotland.
She also discussed on the development of children. Her guest on this day was Vivienne Parry who explained that how fast children develop, learn to walk and pick things not only shows the state of their health but in the long term it affects even the economy of a country. She also interviewed a Mike Barret on the work and life of Sir Patrick. The show was very serious as they discussed about his contribution in the medicine sector.

HOPE FM
17TH September 2010

On this day James interviewed Nancy on the previous topic which was about increase in metabolism. She continued with the topic and gave the rest five steps to take so as to increase ones metabolism. It included eating lots of vegetables, avoid skipping meals, avoid taking large amounts of food at once, taking three meals in a day and avoid stress. She is soft spoken and one can feel that is very learned in her field of study. One can also feel the concern in her voice as she talks. James on the other hand is also cheerful and he communicates very well with the guest and even to the audience.

BBC
20TH September 2010

On this day Claudia was talking to Tania Bowler from Maries topes international about the world contraception day report. They were mainly talking about the increased rates of unprotected sex amongst the youth 15-25 years of age.

They also discussed on Hepatitis C the silent disease because for many years it can have no symptoms. Tania Bowler said that this disease was mainly associated with drug users sharing needles, but worldwide it is commonly contracted via non-sterile medical equipment. In the UK, Hepatitis C is more prevalent among South Asian communities, so health campaigners had been going into mosques to get the message across. She also talks to talks to Graham Foster, a Professor of Hepatology at the Royal London Hospital, and Shabana Begum from the Hepatitis C Trust, who herself contracted Hepatitis C on a family holiday to Pakistan. This show was interesting since Shabana gave a testimony on how she contracted the disease. This I think was effective since it was able to catch my attention.

Hope fm
24th September 2010

On this day, they did not discuss on any health issues but only informed the audience about a conference that was to take place at Park Place hotel. Nancy encouraged the audience to attend the conference as it would be of great benefit to them. She gave a brief of the entire topic that she and her colleague would talk about. She also asked the audience to attend the conference so that they can ask all the questions that they would like her to answer.