Spreading the (Fake) News: Exploring Health Messages on Social Media and the Implications for Health Professionals Using a Case Study

Sommariva, S; Vamos, Cheryl A.; Mantzarlis, Alexios; Đào, Lillie Uyên-Loan; Tyson, Dinorah Martinez

doi:10.1080/19325037.2018.1473178

Cited by 156 publications

(117 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This review confirms that misconceptions about MMR vaccine and autism, in particular, remain prevalent on social media (Aquino et al, 2017;Chen et al, 2018a,b). Other topics share scientific uncertainty, with the authorities unable to provide confident explanations or advice, as with newly emerging virus infections such as Ebola and Zika viruses (Basch et al, 2017;Fung et al, 2016;Sommariva et al, 2018).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Zika epidemic stimulated considerable activity on Twitter (Wood, 2018) and Facebook (Sharma et al, 2017), as well as spread of news items (Sommariva et al, 2018), images (Seltzer et al, 2017), and videos (Bora et al, 2018) on a range of media. Conspiracy theories directed at institutions feature frequently in these discussions.…”

Section: Vaccines and Communicable Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conspiracy theories directed at institutions feature frequently in these discussions. For instance, the Zika virus was portrayed as a bioweapon, while rumours spread that the Zika vaccine had been developed to depopulate the earth (Sommariva et al, 2018;Wood, 2018). Conspiracist ideation played a crucial role in one's belief in misinformation (Lewandowsky et al, 2013).…”

Section: Vaccines and Communicable Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media

Wang

McKee

Torbica

et al. 2019

Social Science & Medicine

1,049

754

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A B S T R A C TContemporary commentators describe the current period as "an era of fake news" in which misinformation, generated intentionally or unintentionally, spreads rapidly. Although affecting all areas of life, it poses particular problems in the health arena, where it can delay or prevent effective care, in some cases threatening the lives of individuals. While examples of the rapid spread of misinformation date back to the earliest days of scientific medicine, the internet, by allowing instantaneous communication and powerful amplification has brought about a quantum change. In democracies where ideas compete in the marketplace for attention, accurate scientific information, which may be difficult to comprehend and even dull, is easily crowded out by sensationalized news. In order to uncover the current evidence and better understand the mechanism of misinformation spread, we report a systematic review of the nature and potential drivers of health-related misinformation. We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, Scopus and Google databases to identify relevant methodological and empirical articles published between 2012 and 2018. A total of 57 articles were included for full-text analysis. Overall, we observe an increasing trend in published articles on health-related misinformation and the role of social media in its propagation. The most extensively studied topics involving misinformation relate to vaccination, Ebola and Zika Virus, although others, such as nutrition, cancer, fluoridation of water and smoking also featured. Studies adopted theoretical frameworks from psychology and network science, while co-citation analysis revealed potential for greater collaboration across fields. Most studies employed content analysis, social network analysis or experiments, drawing on disparate disciplinary paradigms. Future research should examine susceptibility of different sociodemographic groups to misinformation and understand the role of belief systems on the intention to spread misinformation. Further interdisciplinary research is also warranted to identify effective and tailored interventions to counter the spread of health-related misinformation online.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vaccines and Communicable Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vaccines and Communicable Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media

Wang

McKee

Torbica

et al. 2019

Social Science & Medicine

1,049

754

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is backed up in a study investigating the spread of health rumours through social media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Googleplus). They used the example of the Zika virus and found that rumours were shared three times more than stories that had been verified (Sommariva, Vamos, Mantzarlis, Đàom, & Martinez Tyson, ).…”

Section: Health Literacy/health Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand: a review of the Teaching and Learning in Action feature

2019

Health Info Libraries J

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“…Studies reveal timely release of information and trust in leaders and government are positively associated with the adoption of recommended behaviours during a public health crisis (11,14,15). Managing and sharing information can help strengthen partnerships, and social networking sites could empower people and communities in terms of informed decision-making (16,17).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perception survey of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication in an acute hospital in the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

Yong

Xin

Wee

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background Emergency risk communication is a critical component in emergency planning and response. It has been recognised as significant for planning for and responding to public health emergencies. While there is a growing body of guidelines and frameworks on emergency risk communication, it remains a relatively new field. There has also been limited attention on how emergency risk communication is being performed in public health organisations, such as acute hospitals, and what the associated challenges are. This article seeks to examine the crisis and emergency risk communication in an acute hospital in response to COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore and to identify its associated enablers and barriers.Methods A 13-item Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Survey, based on the US Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) CERC framework, was developed and administered to hospital staff during February 24–28, 2020. The survey also included an open-ended question to solicit feedback on areas of CERC in need of improvement. Chi-square test was used for analysis of survey data. Thematic analysis was performed on qualitative feedback.Results Of the 1154 participants who responded to the survey, most (94.1%) reported that regular hospital updates on COVID-19 were understandable and actionable. Many (92.5%) stated that accurate, concise and timely information helped to keep them safe. A majority (92.3%) of them were clear about the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 situation, and 79.4% of the respondents reported that the hospital had been able to understand their challenges and address their concerns. Sociodemographic characteristics such as occupation, age, marital status, work experience, gender, and staff’s primary work location influenced the responses to hospital CERC. Local leaders within the hospital would need support to better communicate and translate hospital updates in response to COVID-19 to actionable plans for their staff. Better communication in executing resource utilization plans, expressing more empathy and care for their staff, and enhancing communication channels, such as through the use of secure text messaging rather than emails would be important.Conclusion CERC is relevant and important in the hospital setting to managing COVID-19 and should be considered concurrently with hospital emergency response domains.

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Spreading the (Fake) News: Exploring Health Messages on Social Media and the Implications for Health Professionals Using a Case Study

Cited by 156 publications

References 34 publications

Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media

Systematic Literature Review on the Spread of Health-related Misinformation on Social Media

Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand: a review of the Teaching and Learning in Action feature

Perception survey of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication in an acute hospital in the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

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