The Role and Future Potential of Radio, Podcasts, and YouTube in Influencing Awareness and Policy on Neurodegenerative Diseases in the Arab Gulf: A Focus on Oman, Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia

The increasing prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs), especially Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, is a major public health concern in the Gulf countries (GCs) due to the rapid increase in life expectancy and population aging. This research explores the impact of radio, podcasts, and YouTube on raising awareness about NDs and publicizing media's focus on policy in four GCs: Oman, Qatar, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, in light of media and technological limitations and restrictions, alongside cultural and religious contexts. It is observed that while radio would help to engage elderly people and rural populations, podcasts enable in-depth health education. YouTube provides an effective channel for visually clear communication of health-related information, the evidence for media to communicate specific knowledge about NDs is not strong. The lack of evidence and normalization of cognitive decline have remained an obstacle. It concludes that effective communication channels that build on existing cultural and social factors show promise for informing and increasing health awareness of NDs, but evidence is still lacking to show that receiving information alone affects health or policy. It emphasizes the necessity for future study into whether improved knowledge at the community level leads to earlier help-seeking, improved caregiver support, and access to services.