SVU, Touch And Up All Night Take Top Honors In Sentinel For Health Awards

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Winners of the Sentinel for Health Awards for exemplary achievements of television storylines that inform, educate and motivate viewers to make choices for healthier and safer lives were announced at the Writers Guild of America, West in Los Angeles.

The NBC drama Law & Order: SVU received first place in the Primetime Drama (major storyline) category for accurately portraying the emotional effects and legalities around childhood sexual abuse. An episode of Fox's Touch earned first place in Global Health for a storyline about domestic abuse, and NBC's hit, Up All Night, won first place in the Comedy category for a storyline about the realities of childbirth.

PBS's Sesame Street took top honors in Children's Programming for a storyline about food insecurity and hunger in America, while USA's Necessary Roughness was named the winner in the Primetime Drama (minor storyline) category for its treatment of bipolar disorder. This year's awards inaugurated a new category for Climate Change, for which Sprout's The Sunny Side Up Show won for a segment on recycling.

The awards are presented on behalf of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by Hollywood, Health & Society (HH&S), a program of the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.   A full list of winners follows:

Primetime Drama (major storyline)

First place:
Law & Order: SVU—Personal Fouls (NBC)
Topic: Sexual abuse
Written by: Bryan Goluboff

Second place:
Private Practice—Who We Are (ABC)
Topic: Addiction and Invervention
Written by: Shonda Rhimes

Third place:
Homeland—The Vest (Showtime)
Topic: Bipolar Disorder
Written by: Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa, Gideon Raff, Meredith Stiehm, Chip Johannessen

Honorable mention:
Parenthood—Nora and Tough Love (NBC)
Topic: Asperger's syndrome
Written by: Jason Katims, Bridget Carpenter, Kerry Ehrin, David Hudgins, Sarah Watson, Monica Henderson Beletsky, Eric Guggenheim, Jamie Duneier

Primetime Drama (minor storyline)

First place:
Necessary Roughness—Dream On (USA)
Topic: Bipolar Disorder
Written by: Mark Kruger

Primetime Comedy

First place:
Up All Night—Birth (NBC)
Topic: Childbirth
Written by: Emily Spivey, Caroline Williams

Global Health

First place:
Touch—Safety in Numbers (FOX)
Topic: Violence Against Women
Written by: Carol Barbee

Children's Programming

First place:
Sesame Street—Growing Hope Against Hunger (Sesame Workshop)
Topic: Food Insecurity
Written By: Christine Ferraro, Cynthia Wade

Second place:
Doc McStuffins—Ben/Anna Split (Disney)
Topic: Overnight Hospital Stay
Written by: Ed Valentine

Climate Change

First place:
The Sunny Side Up Show – Earth Week  (Sprout)
Topic:  Recycling
Written by: Liz Filios, Jenn Santee

First-round judging was conducted at the CDC and partner organizations by over 80 topic experts on 15 panels who evaluated the accuracy of health depictions. The 10 finalists were then evaluated at USC by an expert panel representing entertainment, academic and public health organizations. These second-round judges scored finalist entries on entertainment value and potential benefit to the audience.

HH&S provides entertainment industry professionals with accurate and timely information for health storylines, including free consultations and briefings with the CDC and partner experts. A free resource for writers, producers and others in search of credible information on a wide range of public health topics, HH&S is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The California Endowment, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Barr Foundation, the Skoll Global Threats Fund and ClimateWorks Foundation. For more information about our program and services, visit www.usc.edu/hhs.

The Norman Lear Center is a multidisciplinary research and public policy center studying and shaping the impact of entertainment and media on society. The Lear Center works to bridge the gap between the entertainment industry and academia, and between them and the public. For more information, visit www.learcenter.org.

Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism is a national leader in education and scholarship in the fields of communication, journalism, public diplomacy and public relations. With an enrollment of more than 2,200 students, USC Annenberg offers doctoral, master's and bachelor's degree programs, as well as continuing development programs for working professionals, across a broad scope of academic inquiry. The school's comprehensive curriculum emphasizes the core skills of leadership, innovation, service and entrepreneurship and draws upon the resources of a networked university located in the media capital of the world.

SOURCE Hollywood, Health & Society