(co-written by Demetrius Parker, with thanks to CDC Connects reporter Faye McDonald Smith)

 “That was over six months ago, how could I get TBI now?”
“You didn’t. I suspect the symptoms have always been there; you simply didn’t notice them or chose to ignore them…”
– The character Joan Butler (played by Wendy Davis) speaking with her Army doctor when she discovers she has TBI.  From Army Wives on the Lifetime Network.

If you watch the popular Lifetime TV drama Army Wives, you may know that Joan, one of the leading characters, was recently diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury (TBI). But did you know that two CDC scientists were key consultants on the storyline about TBI?  This is an example of Entertainment Education (EE), a health marketing and communication strategy for educating the public, raising awareness and changing health behavior around the world for more than 30 years. Built on theories of behavior change and human behavior, EE uses many formats (e.g. television, film, social media, telenovela, theater) to engage the viewer’s emotions, inform audiences, and change attitudes, behavior, and social norms.