Misinformation is a phenomenon that has always existed but has increased in the post-truth and fake-news era due to the possibilities offered by Internet. The lack of information and biased information affect all areas of knowledge with potential adverse effects on individuals and society. These adverse effects are especially significant in the field of health and they even pose a threat to public health in some regions.
Avoiding and counteracting misleading health information is one of the main concerns of the scientific and medical community. However, debunking misinformation is more challenging than it seems. Whether a user takes science and health information as true or not depends more on psychological reasons than on scientific literacy, therefore, once a statement is set as true, it is difficult to debunk it. Moreover, there is evidence that when accurate information is presented along with an opposite framework, the presence of misinformation causes people to stop believing in facts altogether.
GOALS
To create a user-friendly APP to function as a trustful source of information for health-related issues
To provide European citizens with a tool to avoid the instauration of misleading health information.
To improve literacy in health-related issues amongst European citizens, especially those over 65.
INTELLECTUAL OUTPUTS
An application to detect health misinformation.
Open health misinformation e-modules that will offer training on the most frequent health myths and strategies for detecting hoaxes and how to deal with inaccurate health information.
Health misinformation ebook.
TARGET
The user-friendly application will be developed for the target of the project: population over 65 who have accessed the Internet late in their life. A recent study demonstrates that this is the population group that shares more articles from fake news domains
