Combating Online Health Misinformation

Combating Online Health Misinformation: A Professional’s guide to Helping the Public does an excellent job of describing health misinformation and disinformation; why we fall for it and how we can combat it. It covers timely topics such as the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine hesitancy and the role that social media plays in disseminating health mis- and disinformation; and aids in understanding the multi-faceted reasons the public believes in false or biased information sources. Health, social media, cultural and science literacy are critically important in identifying misinformation, and the authors offer both insight and practical guidance for librarians, educators, policy makers and healthcare professionals on how to engage and empower their communities to improve their knowledge and understanding of health information.

-- Susan Harnett, Medical Information Services Librarian, Borland Library, University of Flo