TY - JOUR
T1 - Measuring the Burden of Infodemics
T2 - Summary of the Methods and Results of the Fifth WHO Infodemic Management Conference
AU - Wilhelm, Elisabeth
AU - Ballalai, Isabella
AU - Belanger, Marie Eve
AU - Benjamin, Peter
AU - Bertrand-Ferrandis, Catherine
AU - Bezbaruah, Supriya
AU - Briand, Sylvie
AU - Brooks, Ian
AU - Bruns, Richard
AU - Bucci, Lucie M.
AU - Calleja, Neville
AU - Chiou, Howard
AU - Devaria, Abhinav
AU - Dini, Lorena
AU - D'Souza, Hyjel
AU - Dunn, Adam G.
AU - Eichstaedt, Johannes C.
AU - Evers, Silvia M.A.A.
AU - Gobat, Nina
AU - Gissler, Mika
AU - Gonzales, Ian Christian
AU - Gruzd, Anatoliy
AU - Hess, Sarah
AU - Ishizumi, Atsuyoshi
AU - John, Oommen
AU - Joshi, Ashish
AU - Kaluza, Benjamin
AU - Khamis, Nagwa
AU - Kosinska, Monika
AU - Kulkarni, Shibani
AU - Lingri, Dimitra
AU - Ludolph, Ramona
AU - Mackey, Tim
AU - Mandić-Rajčević, Stefan
AU - Menczer, Filippo
AU - Mudaliar, Vijaybabu
AU - Murthy, Shruti
AU - Nazakat, Syed
AU - Nguyen, Tim
AU - Nilsen, Jennifer
AU - Pallari, Elena
AU - Taschner, Natalia Pasternak
AU - Petelos, Elena
AU - Prinstein, Mitchell J.
AU - Roozenbeek, Jon
AU - Schneider, Anton
AU - Srinivasan, Varadharajan
AU - Stevanović, Aleksandar
AU - Strahwald, Brigitte
AU - Abdul, Shabbir Syed
AU - Machiri, Sandra Varaidzo
AU - van der Linden, Sander
AU - Voegeli, Christopher
AU - Wardle, Claire
AU - Wegwarth, Odette
AU - White, Becky K.
AU - Willie, Estelle
AU - Yau, Brian
AU - Purnat, Tina D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 JMIR Publications Inc.. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background: An infodemic is excess information, including false or misleading information, that spreads in digital and physical environments during a public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an unprecedented global infodemic that has led to confusion about the benefits of medical and public health interventions, with substantial impact on risk-taking and health-seeking behaviors, eroding trust in health authorities and compromising the effectiveness of public health responses and policies. Standardized measures are needed to quantify the harmful impacts of the infodemic in a systematic and methodologically robust manner, as well as harmonizing highly divergent approaches currently explored for this purpose. This can serve as a foundation for a systematic, evidence-based approach to monitoring, identifying, and mitigating future infodemic harms in emergency preparedness and prevention. Objective: In this paper, we summarize the Fifth World Health Organization (WHO) Infodemic Management Conference structure, proceedings, outcomes, and proposed actions seeking to identify the interdisciplinary approaches and frameworks needed to enable the measurement of the burden of infodemics. Methods: An iterative human-centered design (HCD) approach and concept mapping were used to facilitate focused discussions and allow for the generation of actionable outcomes and recommendations. The discussions included 86 participants representing diverse scientific disciplines and health authorities from 28 countries across all WHO regions, along with observers from civil society and global public health–implementing partners. A thematic map capturing the concepts matching the key contributing factors to the public health burden of infodemics was used throughout the conference to frame and contextualize discussions. Five key areas for immediate action were identified. Results: The 5 key areas for the development of metrics to assess the burden of infodemics and associated interventions included (1) developing standardized definitions and ensuring the adoption thereof; (2) improving the map of concepts influencing the burden of infodemics; (3) conducting a review of evidence, tools, and data sources; (4) setting up a technical working group; and (5) addressing immediate priorities for postpandemic recovery and resilience building. The summary report consolidated group input toward a common vocabulary with standardized terms, concepts, study designs, measures, and tools to estimate the burden of infodemics and the effectiveness of infodemic management interventions. Conclusions: Standardizing measurement is the basis for documenting the burden of infodemics on health systems and population health during emergencies. Investment is needed into the development of practical, affordable, evidence-based, and systematic methods that are legally and ethically balanced for monitoring infodemics; generating diagnostics, infodemic insights, and recommendations; and developing interventions, action-oriented guidance, policies, support options, mechanisms, and tools for infodemic managers and emergency program managers.
AB - Background: An infodemic is excess information, including false or misleading information, that spreads in digital and physical environments during a public health emergency. The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an unprecedented global infodemic that has led to confusion about the benefits of medical and public health interventions, with substantial impact on risk-taking and health-seeking behaviors, eroding trust in health authorities and compromising the effectiveness of public health responses and policies. Standardized measures are needed to quantify the harmful impacts of the infodemic in a systematic and methodologically robust manner, as well as harmonizing highly divergent approaches currently explored for this purpose. This can serve as a foundation for a systematic, evidence-based approach to monitoring, identifying, and mitigating future infodemic harms in emergency preparedness and prevention. Objective: In this paper, we summarize the Fifth World Health Organization (WHO) Infodemic Management Conference structure, proceedings, outcomes, and proposed actions seeking to identify the interdisciplinary approaches and frameworks needed to enable the measurement of the burden of infodemics. Methods: An iterative human-centered design (HCD) approach and concept mapping were used to facilitate focused discussions and allow for the generation of actionable outcomes and recommendations. The discussions included 86 participants representing diverse scientific disciplines and health authorities from 28 countries across all WHO regions, along with observers from civil society and global public health–implementing partners. A thematic map capturing the concepts matching the key contributing factors to the public health burden of infodemics was used throughout the conference to frame and contextualize discussions. Five key areas for immediate action were identified. Results: The 5 key areas for the development of metrics to assess the burden of infodemics and associated interventions included (1) developing standardized definitions and ensuring the adoption thereof; (2) improving the map of concepts influencing the burden of infodemics; (3) conducting a review of evidence, tools, and data sources; (4) setting up a technical working group; and (5) addressing immediate priorities for postpandemic recovery and resilience building. The summary report consolidated group input toward a common vocabulary with standardized terms, concepts, study designs, measures, and tools to estimate the burden of infodemics and the effectiveness of infodemic management interventions. Conclusions: Standardizing measurement is the basis for documenting the burden of infodemics on health systems and population health during emergencies. Investment is needed into the development of practical, affordable, evidence-based, and systematic methods that are legally and ethically balanced for monitoring infodemics; generating diagnostics, infodemic insights, and recommendations; and developing interventions, action-oriented guidance, policies, support options, mechanisms, and tools for infodemic managers and emergency program managers.
KW - COVID-19
KW - World Health Organization
KW - burden of infodemic
KW - infodemic
KW - infodemic management
KW - infodemic metrics
KW - infodemiology
KW - technical consultation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85152112525&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85152112525&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2196/44207
DO - 10.2196/44207
M3 - Article
C2 - 37012998
AN - SCOPUS:85152112525
SN - 2564-1891
VL - 3
JO - JMIR Infodemiology
JF - JMIR Infodemiology
M1 - e44207
ER -