A paper co-authored by Professor of Health Education John Allegrante blames misinformation on open-ended social media sites for dissuading thousands of Americans from getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus.
Writing in SAGE Perspectives, Allegrante and M. Elaine Auld, Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), encourage the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services to partner with the World Health Organization in the development of digital health communication” tools to address issues of “infodemiology” — an area of science research focused on scanning the internet for user-contributed health-related content, with the ultimate goal of improving public health.
TACKLING “PERCEIVED CREDIBILITY” John Allegrante believes public health efforts need to explore the factors that make people distrust experts. (Photo: TC Archives)
“If we want to protect and promote the public’s health, national guidelines for the authenticity and authoritativeness of online health information are critical for improving our response to future health emergencies,” write Allegrante and Auld in a piece titled “Authoritative vs. Credible Sources of COVID Health Information: When Necessary is not Sufficient.” “But first we must also understand how diversity, religious and cultural beliefs, life experiences, and other factors influence the perceived credibility of such information and its influence on consumers’ health behaviors.”
If we want to protect and promote the public’s health, national guidelines for the authenticity and authoritativeness of online health information are critical for improving our response to future health emergencies,But first we must also understand how diversity, religious and cultural beliefs, life experiences and other factors influence the perceived credibility of such information and its influence on consumers’ health behaviors.
—John Allegrante, TC Professor of Health Education, and M. Elaine Auld, CEO of the Society for Public Health Education
Arriving at such an understanding will require “a lasting Federal investment not only in the biomedical sciences for fidelity to the truth, but also in the behavioral and social sciences for communicating clearly to improve the understanding and health decision-making of all Americans.”
Allegrante is a Past President of SOPHE and Editor Emeritus of Health Education & Behavior (SAGE). He is a founder and co-chair of the Digital Health Promotion Executive Leadership Summit.