WHO competency framework, UX, opportunities for action, and more.
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Infodemic Management News Flash
Tuesday 21 September 2021 | Issue #22
Feature artwork
This image highlights what can happen when something is designed in a way that doesn’t keep the needs of the user at the centre of the design process. A professional may see one thing, but the receiver may see something quite different! In this case, the toy is designed with the purchaser (the parent) in mind, with little consideration what what the end-user (or baby) actually sees. The parents are pleased with their purchase, while the baby is left with a confusing view, that's probably not what their parents intended.
Human centered design (HCD) and design thinking originated from the efforts of computer scientists wanting to design tools that inspired humans to interact with technology better. But since those beginning, HCD is permeated through many business and innovation practices, including public health. It has complemented the thinking about expanding the spectrum of community engagement toward community-leadership and ownership, instead of merely consultation or co-creation. People know what they need, the question is whether the practitioner is willing to give up some of their power and hand the agency over to the community. Introducing the principles of HCD into infodemic management work – whether it is analyzing the infodemic, or designing, implementing and evaluating interventions – can make a profound difference in how we empower communities to respond to the infodemic.
Sometimes, you have to actually get in the cot and look up, to see what you are actually delivering.
Image credit: vk/Piterskii_punk_wall
Feature content
New WHO paper: Developing the first WHO public health research agenda for infodemics
WHO’s new paper describing the development of the first WHO public health research agenda for managing infodemics has now been published in the JMIR Journal of Infodemiology. This paper reports on the process and outcomes of the 1st Global Infodemic Management conference. This virtual conference was held in June and July 2020 with 110 participants from over 35 countries, and was followed by a structured asynchronous exercise held in the three months following the conference.
The result of these significant efforts was the WHO public health research agenda for managing infodemics. The framework has five work streams and 16 sub-topics. From these, a comprehensive list of 65 research questions were developed to guide the research on this emerging discipline.
The paper outlines the collaborative effort of academics and practitioners from across the globe, coming together at a time of great uncertainty, to develop new systems and approaches to strengthen the infodemic and pandemic response. The innovative process enabled diverse opinions and experience to be distilled to form a global agenda.
Read the paper here
Image credit: Sam Bradd
WHO releases competency framework for workforce response to infodemic management
WHO has released a new competency framework, Building a response workforce to manage infodemics. Following a global consultation to produce a framework for managing the COVID-19 infodemic, a need was identified for a competency framework for the emerging infodemic management workforce.
WHO, in partnership with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), conducted qualitative research and consultation to produce this competency framework. Discussion panels were held with experts from health institutions and academia between October 2020 and February 2021.
Workforce competencies are structured around four domains - infodemic management, prepare and monitor, detect and intervene, and strengthen. The framework can be used as a reference tool when planning infodemic management capacities, training or teams and can be adapted to be applied to the local context and needs.
WHO will use this new framework to develop training curricula and programmes through the WHO Academy, which will deliver internationally certified micro-skill certificates to health workers globally. The framework will be evaluated on a rolling basis.
Read the document here
Image credit: Sam Bradd
Viral Facts Africa one of the most trusted sources of COVID-19 information
Social media is an important source of information for people on a range of health issues yet, as infodemic managers know well, there can be challenges for users in identifying accurate information. Global Citizen has recently published an article highlighting seven African social media accounts that are sharing accurate and reliable COVID-19 Information. WHO is delighted to see Viral Facts Africa listed as a source of truth. The Viral Facts Team, backed by WHO, specifically targets misinformation and produces highly tailored and shareable content for myth busting.
Read more about Viral Facts and the other social media accounts here
Another great read published by NeimanLab is here
Image credit: Unsplash/Qim Manifester
Opportunities for action
Call for blogs | United Nations World Data Forum 2021
The United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs, through its Statistics Division, has announced a call for blog submissions showing how data can support the implementation of the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals (SDG). Blogs should highlight practical solutions and hands-on experiences, contribute to delivering better data for evidence-based policymaking, and address pressing issues faced by the global data and statistical communities.
This could be a good opportunity to highlight the value of infodemiology for evidence-based approaches to managing and mitigating infodemic impacts and achieving SDGs. Submissions are accepted from 1 September to 8 October 2021.
Read more here
COVID-19 Recovery: Building future pandemic preparedness and understanding citizen engagement in the G7
Applications are open for the ‘COVID-19 Recovery: Building future pandemic preparedness and understanding citizen engagement in the G7’ grant programme. The programme aims to facilitate global and interconnected learning about the contexts, causes and factors leading to vaccine engagement by supporting research within each country of the G7. Lead applicants will be humanities or social sciences researchers based at an eligible UK university or research institute.
Read more here
Call for applications | Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform
Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform is developing a series of workshops to provide practical guidance to respond to emergencies based on social science evidence. As the humanitarian and development community continues to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 and parallel crises, the demand for technical assistance to integrate social and behavioural factors into response programmes has increased. These workshops will aim to show how socio-behavioural considerations can be operationalised in a response.
Read more here
Job opportunities
- WHO: Consultant, Infodemic Manager (Cairo, Egypt)
- IREX: Regional Program Manager, Disinformation (Guatemala)
- CORE Group: Communications/Advocacy Coordinator and Team Leader
- WHO: Social Media Officer (Kenya, Nairobi)
- WHO: Technical Officer, Coordination and Communication for Health (Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic)
- Counterpart International: Technical Support Consultants (Arlington, United States)
- UNICEF: Consultants, Community engagement activities for COVID-19 vaccine roll-out (Timor-Leste)
- WHO: Risk Communications Officer (Cairo, Egypt)
Upcoming events
Promoting Transparency to Counter Disinformation and Build Trust | 27 September 2021
Organised by the Office of the Envoy on Technology, UN Department of Global Communications, UNESCO and WHO, 'Promoting transparency to counter disinformation and build trust' is a side event to the 2020 United National General Assembly. The event will highlight key findings that have emerged out of the last 12 months of interagency work, including the biggest challenges faced in countering disinformation while upholding freedom of expression.
Register here
Visualizing global COVID-19 behaviours and vaccine perceptions in 100+ countries: Data and insights from the new COVID behaviours dashboard | 21 September 2021
The new Johns Hopkins COVID-19 behaviours dashboard displays global vaccine perception and behaviour data. The dashboard is supported through Facebook Data for Good and reflects a collaboration between Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs, the World Health Organization, Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network, Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Maryland Social Data Science Center. Join experts from Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs for a tour of the new COVID Behaviours dashboard.
Register for the webinar here
Open science and information sharing in times of crisis and stability | 27 September 2021
This is the fifth in a series of public meetings under the theme of ‘Addressing inaccurate and misleading information about biological threats through scientific collaboration and communication’. Hosted by the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, the meeting will discuss misinformation, disinformation and science communication with a focus on Southeast Asia. This meeting is intended to focus on determining how to engage scientists in a trusted network to build a defensible, accurate scientific knowledge base that could be used to counter false claims, and developing a guide to help scientists identify and address such claims.
Find out more here
EU Disinfolab 2021 | 26-27 October 2021
The EU DisinfoLab is an independent non-profit organisation focused on tackling sophisticated disinformation campaigns targeting the European Union, its member states, core institutions, and core values. Pre-registration is now open for its annual conference. This is an in-person event, held in Brussels.
Find out more here
Recent events
Roaring 20s | Rebuilding trust, defending truth, reshaping influence
The Digital communication network recently hosted the hybrid Roaring 20’s conference. The forum brought together experts from around the world to discuss key trends and issues regarding building digital trust in relation to finances, democracy, and the technology itself; challenges to scientific truth during the current pandemic; and the geo-strategic play for influence.
Find out more here
1st Annual World Field Epidemiology Day: Celebrating our public health 'Disease Detectives'
The webinar is now available for the first World Field Epidemiology Day event. This event heard from global field epidemiologists and public health leaders about the complex, life-saving work they do, and the vital role that field epidemiology training programs play in ensuring global health security.
Watch the webinar here
Communicating risks and evidence in a public health emergency
Helping people understand the potential benefits and harms to their health from different actions and treatments they might take, and the evidence behind it, is a difficult task. During a public health emergency it becomes even harder. The Winton Centre in the UK and the Harding Center in Germany are two sister centres that work on how best to communicate these sorts of risks. In a recent webinar the two centres presented empirical work testing different kinds of communication on these topics and discussed the implications for practice, as well as directions for future research.
Read about the event here and watch the webinar here
Image credit: Alam Kiron/MCHIP/USAID
What we're reading
Fun with numbers
The new Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs’ COVID-19 behaviours dashboard presents data from global KAP surveys and gives us lots of great numbers to play with.
For example, in Australia, from 20-31 May 2021, 41% of unvaccinated males said they will definitely get vaccinated in the future. By 16-31 August, 32% of unvaccinated males said they will definitely not get vaccinated. Of those aged 45-54 years, 40% of unvaccinated respondents said they would definitely not get vaccinated in the future, while only 19% of those aged 18-24 years said the same thing.
You can access the dashboard here to find your own numbers, or register for the event above ☝️for a tour of the platform.
About the News Flash
An infodemic is an overabundance of information—some accurate, some not—that spreads alongside a disease outbreak. Infodemics are nothing new, but in the digital age, they spread in real time and create a breeding ground for uncertainty. Uncertainty fuels skepticism and distrust, which is a perfect environment for fear, anxiety, finger-pointing, stigma, violent aggression and dismissal of proven public health measures. To manage an infodemic, we need to understand what contributes to it. So that’s why we’re sending you these updates. In each issue of the WHO’s Infodemic Management News Flash we’ll share the latest work happening at the global level, as well as highlight some of the challenges and solutions with infodemics in local contexts. We’ll also provide you with a few takeaways to help you be an effective infodemic manager in your daily life.
If you have a tip on infodemic management or an idea for a future News Flash, email us at infodemicmanagement@who.int. Thanks for joining us on this journey.
