Roles for Health Care Professionals in Addressing Patient-Held Misinformation Beyond Fact Correction

Most patients trust their health care professionals,1 but many also turn to sources outside of the examination room for medical information. Although many resources provide accurate information (e.g., government health agencies, professional organizations, and patient advocacy groups), not all infor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2020-10, Vol.110 (S3), p.S288-S289
Main Authors: Southwell, Brian G., Wood, Jamie L., Navar, Ann Marie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AJPH s
Community Health
Comprehension
COVID-19
Decision making
False information
Families & family life
Government agencies
Health care
Health care industry
Health Education
Health Professionals
Health services
Immunization
Information
Information literacy
Information sources
Internet
Media
Medical personnel
Patients
Pediatricians
Professionals
Public health
Social networks
Social Science
Systematic review
Training
Trust
Vaccines
Verbal communication
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Summary:Most patients trust their health care professionals,1 but many also turn to sources outside of the examination room for medical information. Although many resources provide accurate information (e.g., government health agencies, professional organizations, and patient advocacy groups), not all information that patients find is accurate. Patients may encounter medical misinformation from a variety of online sources, which can have important health consequences. Health care providers can play a critical role in addressing medical misinformation but have not yet had the opportunity to address medical misinformation fully. (Certain disciplines have made progress, such as pediatricians in mitigating vaccine misinformation.) Effectively addressing misinformation requires more than attempts to simply discredit misperceptions. Encountering patient-held misinformation offers an opportunity for clinicians to learn about patient values, preferences, comprehension, and information diets. Systematically training health care professionals to address patient-held misinformation with empathy and curiosity, acknowledging time and resource constraints, will be a crucial contribution toward future mitigation of medical misinformation.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305729