In the recent years, the circulation of health misinformation and disinformation has exploded with the digitalized information ecosystem. They cause confusion and risk-taking behaviours that can harm health. They also lead to mistrust in health authorities and undermines the public health response. Misinformation and disinformation can intensify or lengthen outbreaks when people are unsure about what they need to do to protect their health and the health of people around them especially during health emergencies. Public health workers need knowledge and skills to manage harm from health misinformation and disinformation. This course will help them to better understand the infodemic mechanisms that underlie the emergence and spread of misinformation, the complex and harmful nature of disinformation and how to intervene to better prevent and respond to both of these types of information-based harms.
Language: English
Health topic
Course information
This course is also available in these following languages:
Overview: Public health authorities have a duty to share health information with the population so that people can adopt adequate behaviours to protect their health and the health of others. However, in our modern information ecosystem this objective can be challenged by the overflow of information of varying quality that surges across digital and physical environments during acute public health events. Understanding how this infodemic, including misinformation and disinformation, links to people's intent and behaviour in different communities online and offline, and how to manage it, has become critical for effective preparedness and prevention of health threats.
This course introduces the learners to the concept of health misinformation in an infodemic management context, what harms it can cause, how it spreads, and how to prevent and manage it. It also dives deeper into the difference between misinformation and disinformation with an overview of how threat actors weaponize information during public health emergencies to cause harm. After completing this course, interested participants can enrol in further courses of the infodemic management OpenWHO course series as they become available.
Duration: Approximately 3 hours
Certificates: A certificate of achievement will be available to participants who score at least 80% of the total points available in the final assessment. Participants who receive a certificate of achievement can also download an Open Badge for this course. Click here to learn how.
Should you be interested in learning more about other aspects of infodemic management, please refer to the remaining modules of this course series:
- Infodemic Management 101
- Infodemic Management: Developing an infodemic insights report
- Infodemic Management: Social marketing and message testing methods
- Infodemic Management: Defining a taxonomy for social listening
- Infodemic Management: Using human-centered design good practices
- Infodemic Management: Working effectively as an infodemic manager in the field
What you'll learn
- Explain how an infodemic contributes to public health challenges
- Demonstrate the relationship of misinformation with questions, concerns and information voids
- Discuss misinformation in the global health context
- Describe the common types of misinformation
- List common reasons why people share misinformation
- Identify what infodemic management interventions and strategies to use according to your role
- Describe various interventions you can use to address health misinformation
- Pick and choose strategies and tools adequate to include in your strategy to address health misinformation
- Explain the difference between misinformation and disinformation
- Describe how and why different threat actors create and spread disinformation
- Discuss the impact of emerging technologies on the spread of disinformation and how to combat it
Course contents
Introduction to the course
Module 1: The information environment and risks of health misinformation:
By the end of this module, you will be able to explain what infodemic management is and how it can address health misinformation; to trace the history of misinformation to present day; to argument why debunking and fact-checking is not enough to address misinformation; to describe the importance of information voids and how narratives evolve with time, and why evidence generation is essential to underpin infodemic management.Module 2: The psychology behind the spread of health misinformation:
By the end of this module, you will be able to explain the psychology behind the spread of health misinformation; to identify the common types of misinformation; to describe the tactics used by disinformation purveyors; to give examples of psychological drivers of misinformation spread; and to describe what is the science currently developed to address it, including the infodemic management interventions’ taxonomy.Module 3: Strategies and tools for addressing health misinformation:
By the end of this module, you will be able to map possible infodemic management interventions and strategies as it exists; to present examples of different ways to address health misinformation in different roles; to list interventions of science and health communication that can address health misinformation; to select education and training interventions to build resilience to misinformation; to describe various types of engagement interventions that can help address misinformation; and to identify what are the laws, regulations and ethics considerations that surround these strategies and tools.Module 4: Disinformation and Public Health:
By the end of this module, you will understand what disinformation is and how it differs from misinformation. Additionally, you will understand an overview of the history of disinformation in public health, what the different categories of threat actors are, and the reasons why they create and spread disinformation, and what you can do to prevent and manage disinformation during health emergencies. The final part of the module will review the risks and benefits of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and their impact on the future of disinformation and public health.Final assessment
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Certificate Requirements
- Gain a Record of Achievement by earning at least 80% of the maximum number of points from all graded assignments.
- Gain an Open Badge by completing the course.