Kate Folb is in the middle of telling a story.

Inspired by the season finale of How to Get Away With Murder, which featured two protagonists getting tested for HIV, a sex educator with a large Twitter following went to visit his local clinic. The nurse looked him straight in the eyes and said, “You’re the fifth guy this morning, and we’ve only been open an hour.” This was, well, unusual.

“And that was one clinic in New York City. So imagine how that must have happened across the country!”

As the director of Hollywood Health & Society, a USC-affiliated, Bill and Melinda Gates-funded program that provides free expert consultation to the entertainment industry for stories on public health and climate change, Folb loves a hidden health message. And, yes, she has more than anecdotal evidence that this approach to public science education works. Data collected by Hollywood Health shows a strong correlation between single episode storylines and audience health-seeking behaviors. Folb is starting conversations in living rooms across the country, trojan horsing her way into peoples’ homes in the hopes of making all those Nielsen families healthier.

Read More at  www.inverse.com