Misinformation and Disinformation Toolkit for Clinicians and Public Health Workers
Misinformation and Disinformation Toolkit for Clinicians and Public Health Workers
What is Misinformation and Disinformation?
In recent years, high volumes of mis- and disinformation have resulted in an awareness of the negative and deadly impacts of misinformation and disinformation to people’s health. The phenomenon of sharing incorrect information that impacts the opinions and actions of the public has intensified in today’s digital era, where information and opinions can be easily accessed and shared. Often in the form of anti-science, misinformation and disinformation span across countless topics. Inadvertent misinformation in the form of sharing outdated information that is no longer accurate is also an issue, especially with health topics that evolve rapidly. For clinicians and public health workers, it is critical we understand what misinformation and disinformation are and the steps we can take to protect ourselves, our fellow health care workers, and the public, from its negative impacts. Here are some primers on misinformation and disinformation:
- What is Misinformation and Disinformation? + How to Protect Information Ted Talk - Perdue University
- WHO - What Is the Infodemic?
- Managing Misinformation - Harvard University
Learn the Ins and Outs of Identifying False Information
Use the following resources to help you learn more about protecting yourself from misinformation and disinformation.
- MCN’s Deconstructing Health Messages: Five Key Questions
- WHO Online consultation meeting to discuss global principles for identifying credible sources of health information on social media
- OpenWHO infodemic management courses
- How to Spot Misleading Science Reporting – Berkeley University of California
- Misinformation and Disinformation: A Guide for Protecting Yourself | Security.org
- Video: Misinformation, Disinformation and How to Protect Yourself
What You Can Do About It
Below are action steps, tools, and resources for educating and protecting your community against misinformation and disinformation.
Report Misinformation
Share Handouts
Access and Disseminate Other Tools and Resources
- General
- Fight false information through language access: Language Toolkit — The Praxis Project (Available in English and Spanish)
- Google reverse image tool and how-to guide and how-to video (English, Spanish). Users can see whether an image is old and possibly where it originated from.
- Health and misinformation-related videos in various languages
- American Psychological Association Misinformation and Disinformation Resources
- United Nations High Commission on Refugees Misinformation Factsheet: Types of Misinformation and Disinformation
- Debunking Handbook 2020 (Available in 19 different languages)
- Fact checking tool: Search – Factcheck.org
- Fact checking tool: Snopes
Host A Presentation for Fellow Clinicians and Your Community
- MCN's Presentation on Misinformation and Disinformation - with presenter notes - English and Spanish
Learn About Health Communication
- Read peer-reviewed journals to stay up to date on strategies, models, and information on health communications and persuasion:
- American Journal of Public Health – Misinformation Edition
- Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review
- Misinformation: Susceptibility, spread, and interventions to immunize the public | Nature Medicine
- The Psychological Drivers of Misinformation Belief and its Resistance to Correction | Nature Reviews Psychology
- The Spread of True and False News Online | Science
- MCN's Recommendations for Peer-reviewed Journals for Health Communication