Combating Online Health Misinformation

Catherine Arnott Smith, PhD, is Professor in the Information School and a Discovery Fellow, Virtual Environments Group, Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a former medical librarian who moved into biomedical informatics for her PhD through the Center (now Department) of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh (2002), where she was a National Library of Medicine medical informatics predoctoral trainee. Her research centers on consumer interactions with clinical information systems, mediated through text, in settings that range from patient portals to public libraries to disabilities support centers.Alla Keselman, PhD, is a Senior Social Science Analyst in the Office of Engagement and Training, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. She holds a PhD in human cognition and learning and an MA in biomedical informatics from Columbia University. Dr. Keselman coordinates NLM efforts in evaluating the impact of its health information outreach and community engagement programs. Her research interests include lay understanding of complex health concepts, scientific literacy, and the provision of health information outside clinical settings. She has done work on bringing health and environment-related topics to the science classroom and conducted research into the role of libraries in providing health information to the public.Jointly, Dr. Catherine Arnott Smith and Dr. Alla Keselman co-edited "Meeting Health Information Needs Outside Of Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges" (2015, Elsevier) and co-wrote "Consumer Health Informatics: Enabling Digital Health for Everyone" (in press Dec 2020, Chapman & Hall).Amanda J. Wilson, MLS, is Chief, Office of Engagement and Training (OET) at the National Library of Medicine. She holds a MS in Library Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a BA in music and psychology from Emory University. OET brings together the general engagement, training, and other outreach staff from across the library whose primary focus has been on the Library's presence across the U.S. and internationally, and coordinates the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM), the field force for the National Library of Medicine. Wilson is also an adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America Department of Library and Information Science.

COVID, the political climate, and the pervasive use of online resources and social media have created an environment of distrust and unbelief in science and evidence-based medical information. This handbook, edited by Keselman, Catherine Arnott Smith, and Amanda J. Wilson with contributions from academics and medical librarians, provides information about the roots of this problem and methods to combat it. The book has three parts. The first focuses on definitions, noting that misinformation is explicitly false while disinformation is a deliberate attempt to mislead. The authors discuss the ecology of misinformation and the major role of social media in disseminating it. Part two covers professional practice and how healthcare professionals, educators, and community workers encounter misinformation as they work. The authors emphasize the importance of teaching young people critical thinking so that they can evaluate sources and use social media effectively to get reliable information to the public. Part three examines community engagement, focusing on how public libraries can teach about misinformation and offer tools and techniques for finding reliable, evidence-based information. A well-researched and useful resource for librarians providing health and medical information to the public.

• PrefacePart I: The Ecology of Online Health InformationChapter 1. Defining Health Misinformation. Chapter 2. The Ecology of Online Health Information and COVID-19 Misinformation. Chapter 3. The Health Misinformation Ecosystem on Social Media: Emerging Evidence and Research Gaps. Chapter 4. Flies in the Ointment: Vaccine-hesitancy and Bad Medical Advice During the Russian COVID-19 Pandemic. Part II: Susceptibility to Misinformation; Literacies as SafeguardsChapter 5. Let the Reader and Viewer Beware: Quality Markers for Health Information. Chapter 6. Preventing Health Number Confusion Through Clear Communication Design. Chapter 7. The Case of Everyday Science: Science Literacy and Resilience Against Health Misinformation. Chapter 8. An Examination of the Multiple Dimensions of Public Trust in Science as Health Misinformation Roadblocks. Chapter 9. Critical Cultural Literacy Education as a Bridge to Improving Health Disparities in BIPOC Communities. Part III: PracticeChapter 10. When Medical Practice Meets Medical Myth: Confronting Misinformation in the Clinical Encounter. Chapter 11. Teaching Young People to Think Critically about Health Claims and Choices. Chapter 12. Medical Professionals Using Social Media to Combat Misinformation. Chapter 13. Participation, Empowerment, and Equity: Addressing eHealth Misinformation with Community Engagement in Libraries. Chapter 14. Addressing Health Misinformation in the Infodemic Era: The Alaska Public Health Information Response Team. About the EditorsAbout the Contributors