Infodemiology is the study of the spread of information, with the goal of improving public health
The fast-paced flow of digital information has created a monumental challenge for public health. Now, more than ever, information has the potential to harm people—or help them.
Just like epidemiology studies the determinants and distribution of health and disease, the emerging field of infodemiology provides an evidence-based methodology to study the determinants and distribution of health information. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the real-world impacts of falsities, myths, and conspiracy theories. But understanding what information is spreading, how it impacts people’s health, and what you can do about it are essential tasks whether there’s a global emergency or not.
Infodemiology.com is your go-to site to do this work. With resources tailored to health care providers and public health professionals, you’ll find live dashboards that track trending online conversations, practical trainings on how to integrate infodemiology into your daily routine, recommended talking points, and more. Whatever role you play, infodemiology has the tools to help you be more effective in advancing health.
For doctors and other health care providers
HEALTH CARE
Reports on trending narratives, real-time media dashboards, and trainings to help doctors and other health care providers improve patient care.
For public health professionals
Public health
Robust, evidence-based infodemiology training modules tailored to the needs of public health professionals, with additional resources coming soon.
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“Health misinformation is a serious threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people’s health, and undermine public health efforts.”
- Dr. Vivek H. Murthy Surgeon General of the United States
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“Disinformation and misinformation are eroding public trust in science, becoming a threat to the planet, and costing lives. But it goes beyond a pandemic—climate change, routine vaccinations, gun violence, reproductive health.”
- Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, Your Local Epidemiologist
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“At a time when so many aspects of society have become dangerously polarized, we have seen the proliferation of medical disinformation, junk science, the criminalization of medical care, and a growing distrust in medical institutions and experts … We have a duty to make sure that the human connection that is so essential in medicine remains at the center of our increasingly digitized world.”
- Dr. Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, 178th president of the American Medical Association