Original English article published in the American Journal of Public Health: https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305922
[Extract] The COVID-19 pandemic presents multifaceted challenges for the US health care system. One such challenge is in delivering vital health information to the public—a task made harder by the scourge of health misinformation across the information ecosystem (Southwell et al., p. S288 in this issue of AJPH, and Southwell et al.). I offer concrete recommendations for public health information officers and communication professionals drafting communication campaigns for health agencies and health organizations to maximize the chance that timely health advisories reach the public.
At Harvard Kennedy’s Shorenstein Center, the Technology and Social Change Research Project studies how misinformation spreads and what its impact is on politics and society (bit.ly/2YcTX09). Unlike political disinformation, or fake news, health misinformation can quickly lead to changes in behaviors, which is why health communicators can’t wait for tech companies to solve the problem. [...]