ID: 1755
Presenting Author: Ryngan Pyper
Session: 703 - Health Impact Assessment to Tackle Misinformation and Foster Participation
Status: pending
Exploring practitioner competencies, ethics and good practice for appropriate data identification and interpretation to combat misinformation and disinformation in Health Impact Assessment.
Trust is in short supply and the volume of information surrounding us is too vast to fully verify. These factors increasingly erode the value decision-makers and the public attached to impact assessments. This includes Health Impact Assessments (HIA), which aims to inform decision-making by explaining the public health implications. Whether intentionally or unintentionally the conclusions of impact assessments reflect biases. Biases arise not only from the quality of data, but also from how that data is interpreted and applied. A degree of bias is unavoidable to undertaking pragmatic prospective impact assessments, as these include professional judgments and triangulating of incomplete data. However, risks of bias associated with misinformation (unintentional error) and disinformation (deliberate misleading) are rising and need action to protect the integrity of impact assessments. Responding to quality of data the presentation will discuss good practice in identifying high-quality verifiable context-relevant data. Responding to how data is interpreted and applied the presentation will discuss practitioner competency standards and ethical considerations. A framework will be proposed to help guide HIA practitioners and this discussed and refined in the session. The importance of reporting both limitations and steps taken to address limitations will be empathises. As will the role of involving affected communities and stakeholders is data identification and interpretation. Concluding practical tips on the journey to being a Trusted Expert will be set out.
Ryngan (Director at Logika Group) is an international public health expert in Health Impact Assessment. Ryngan authors guidance and undertakings assessments, training and quality reviews.