ID: 1722
Presenting Author: Lindsay McCallum
Session: 703 - Health Impact Assessment to Tackle Misinformation and Foster Participation
Status: pending
Overview of opportunities and strategies within Health Impact Assessment (HIA) to counter misinformation, communicate complex technical concepts clearly, and build community trust and unders
In today’s world, information has never been more abundant or more available. While this can be a positive thing - empowering communities with important information – it can also lead to problems such as the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation. The spread of false information has been particularly prevalent in the health sector, with false claims circulating online forums and social media. Within the context of Impact Assessment (IA), the topic of health is highly complex with technical findings that may pose interpretation challenges for the communities these assessments aim to support. Health Impact Assessment (HIA) is an approach used to evaluate potential positive and negative impacts on human health in IA, and it can be used as an effective communication tool. HIA serves as a communication bridge, translating complex findings from a variety of health-related disciplines into plain language and thereby offering a more accessible tool for communities to understand potential health effects. This presentation highlights opportunities and strategies within HIA to counter misinformation, communicate complex concepts clearly, and build community trust. These strategies focus on approaches to foster transparent engagement, collection and validation of local data, and conducting additional analysis for the purpose of risk communication (e.g., nutritional benefits of traditional foods consumption). Collectively, these strategies help to support the use of accurate information, foster participation, and enhance equitable outcomes within the practice of HIA.
Lindsay McCallum has a Ph.D. in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) from the University of Toronto, and has been working in the field of health assessment for more than 15 years.
Coauthor 1: Tessa Roselli
Coauthor 2: Ruwan Jayasinghe
Coauthor 3: Amica Ferras
Coauthor 4: Camryn O'Keeffe