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Identifying and Combating Health Misinformation

Online health misinformation is a widespread problem, with false or misleading information about both longstanding health concerns like cancer and emergent situations like the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the internet at a rapid pace. Sometimes questionable health information is obvious, but it can also be difficult to recognize and can potentially reach millions of people. This series brings expert speakers to discuss various aspects of online health misinformation, how to identify it, and how to help curb its spread.

Objectives: 

After listening to the guest speaker and participating in webinar chat and polls, participants will be able to :

  1. Identify aspects of misinformation and its effect on online health information
  2. Recognize the impact of misinformation on health literacy
  3. Describe and reflect on the effectiveness of methods used to curb the spread of health misinformation in online environments
Course Materials: 
File COVID-19: Health Literacy and Misinformation in the LatinX Community (August 31, 2020)
File Correction of Health Misinformation on Social Media (September 2020)
File Correction of Health Misinformation on Social Media Resources Guide (September 2020)
File Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy and Social Media's Role (March 1, 2021)
File Addressing Health Misinformation at the Scale of the Internet (March 22, 2021)
Class Length: 
1 hour
Course Owner(s):
Kelsey Cowles, MLIS, Academic Coordinator
Instructor(s):
Kelsey Cowles, MLIS, Academic Coordinator
Sharon Han, Associate Fellow
Margie Sheppard, MLS, Technology Coordinator - Kansas
Liz Waltman, MLIS, Outreach, Education and Communications Coordinator
Continuing Education:

1 hour MLA CE credit 

Past Classes

Addressing Health Misinformation at the Scale of the Internet
Addressing Health Misinformation at the Scale of the Internet
Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy and Social Media’s Role in Spreading Vaccine Misinformation
https://youtu.be/EPWcONKFxk8
Identifying and Combating Health Misinformation - Health and Medical Information on Wikipedia

The circulation of misinformation online can be damaging to public health. English Wikipedia is the eighth most-visited website in the U.S.

https://youtu.be/fsIsBIGIL6M
Correction of Health Misinformation on Social Media

This presentation covers research on the correction of misinformation on social media. It also discusses misinformation on social media in general, how and why to correct it, and best practices for doing so.

Watch the recording on YouTube

Upcoming Classes

There are no upcoming classes