COMBATTING DIGITAL MISINFORMATION |
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FROM THE NACHC LENS
Over the last two years, community health center care teams have addressed an onslaught of patient questions, fears, and doubts based on false COVID-19 information. The significant volume of COVID-19 related misinformation and disinformation online has created an infodemic alongside the pandemic. An infodemic is an overabundance of information with an overwhelming amount of false information that causes confusion, questions, and mistrust of evidence-based science and public health care experts.
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Actions Health Centers Can Take
Patients are subject to all kinds of information from a lot of different sources and people, on and offline. But health care teams have the tools and knowledge to help them discern what information to act on.
“Health centers have so much good and accurate health information to communicate that can help to push back on the spread of misinformation,” says Leslie Wolcott, Communications Director, Roanoke Chowan Community Health Center, Ahoskie, NC. “You don’t need a full time communications staffer to engage on social media. If resources are limited, start by reposting existing social media posts with accurate health information posted by trusted health organizations and highlighting the real stories of health care teams, front line staff, and board members.”
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Steps to Start Pushing Back Misinformation
1) Closely monitor your health center's social media channels
2) Learn the common tactics people use to create disinformation
3) Report disinformation to social media channels
4) Use the Fact Sandwich method to debunk misinformation
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NEW NACHC RESOURCES:
ACTION GUIDE
WEBINARS
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Care Teams as Social Media Influencers: Using Your Trusted White Coat Online
Today, more than ever, social media is a valuable and critical tool for engaging with patients, creating community, collaborating with colleagues, and advocating about many different health issues. “Health care teams do a lot of work, and our days are full, but being professionally active on social media is not just another thing to do,” says Jay Lee, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer, Share Our Selves Community Health Center, Costa Mesa, CA. “Rather, it is an obligation that we are doing our part to ensure accurate health information is getting into the social media shared discussion space.”
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Before You Start: Define Your Goals and Identify Your Audience
- The more well-defined your goals, the easier it will be to identify an audience, decide what information you want to share, and create a coherent, authentic social media presence
- Common goals could include public education, health promotion, and/or advocacy
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Posting, Connecting, and Growing Your Following
- Take time to follow people to learn how they communicate; some of these people will follow you back. Check the social media accounts of your followers to make sure they are authentic. Consider following health journalists and health-related organizations and their leaders.
- Post content regularly as consistency is key in building a regular following
- Use social media content messaging resources and templates from trusted health experts and organizations that you can paste into your social media feed
- Create patient stories without real names and demographic information to capture and share your care team's work
- Respond directly to followers that have legitimate questions, concerns, or comments
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Creating Your Brand
- Be authentic. People crave and want human connection, especially because we live in a world that becomes more technology-driven every day.
- Share who you are as a person such as experiences you had, places visited, events attended, etc.
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“If we don’t tell our story on social media, other people will tell it for us.”
Dr. Jay Lee, MD, MPH
Chief Medical Officer
Share Our Selves Community Health Center, Costa Mesa, CA
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Dr. Jay Lee has been a tireless advocate for fair and equitable COVID-19 vaccine access for his health center patients by meeting with local public health leaders, legislators, and health plans. He has also taken his advocacy @familydocwonk to Twitter to share accurate, evidence-based information on COVID-19 and vaccines along with other health information about family medicine. Since joining the platform in 2009, he has amassed a following of nearly 5K.
If you are looking to expand your social media presence, Dr. Lee recommends reaching out to health center leadership to help amplify your messages and content and ask how they can support you in growing your community and following. Other tips:
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Listen and lurk – take time to see what others are posting and the conversations that unfold. At the same time, begin to create your own community by exchanging handles with people you meet at meetings and online.
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Don’t forget to get organized and tap into the “good force vs. the bad force” of social media. Use it as a positive way to engage and advocate. Avoid debates and challenging conversations with people who want to take you down a negative path. Don’t let it become all-consuming.
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A MINDFUL WAY TO WASH YOUR HANDS
Each time you wash your hands during the day can be an opportunity to catch a break for a few seconds. There’s nothing to do or fix or change. Instead, it can be a point of rest.
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Bring your awareness to the physical sensation of the hot water and soap
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Acknowledge this experience as something that’s real and right now
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Incorporate a counting exercise if you can by washing your hands for the recommended 30 to 40 seconds
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#FQHC- Federally Qualified Health Center
#CHC- Community Health Center
#ValueCHCs- Advocacy
#PRAPARE- NACHC's PRAPARE social determinants of health toolkit
#CHCsInnovate- Innovative practices in health centers
#SDoH- Social determinants of health
#HealthCenterInfo- Health Center Resource Clearinghouse
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© National Association of Community Health Centers. All rights reserved. |
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