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Health Literacy Via Social Media 1

Examining Social Media as a Tool to Promote Health Literacy

Taylor Grandinetti

Johns Hopkins University

AS.480.600.83.FA22: Research & Writing Methods

Professor Michael Bayer

September 24, 2022

Health Literacy Via Social Media 2

Examining Social Media as a Tool to Promote Health Literacy

Social media ranks as one of the leading platforms through which Americans consume

the news (Shearer, 2021) and, as a result, plays an important role in our understanding of health-

and health care-related information. Its sites have the ability to democratize this information and

spread it widely. At the same time, however, they also make it easier to spread misinformation

and disinformation. And as the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, and continues to break out,

across the country, social media personalities and everyday users have spread false information

to further their agendas, make money, and/or undermine public officials and authorities (Bell &

Gallagher, 2020). Health literacy is now arguably in decline, especially when it comes to

vaccinations. In April 2020, for example, the percentage of parents who believed “childhood

vaccines may lead to illness or death” was 18.3%; in early 2022, however, it rose to 31.5%. This

problem with social media has even become so prolific that the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention’s website now includes a “How to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation”

webpage that focuses largely on misinformation on social media (CDC, 2021).

That does not mean, however, that health communicators should give up on social media

as a tool to promote health literacy. They must meet Americans where they are, and, for better or

worse, that place is social media. According to a 2021 Pew Research Center study, 72% of

Americans say they use social media sites, with an even higher percentage (84%) of Americans

ages 18 to 29 using them (Auxier & Anderson, 2021). Simply put, social media is too important

for health communicators to ignore.

But reactively combatting misinformation is not enough. Health communicators must go

on the offensive, taking advantage of social media’s ability to democratize and broadcast

information by posting, tweeting, and sharing information that promotes health literacy. A 2021

Health Literacy Via Social Media 3

analysis found eight studies on COVID-19-related social media misinformation recommended

posting “trustworthy information” as a solution to combat the issue, while four studies

recommended educating social media users on health literacy as a solution (Gabarron et al.,

2021). Meanwhile, education efforts in other modern, digital media are proving similar tactics

work, as seen by podcasts’ ability to disseminate sexual health literacy information to teenagers

and young adults (Porter et al., 2021). Health communicators should consider the latter finding in

particular to be a positive sign for the possibility of promoting health literacy through social

media, especially given the social media platform most similar to it in terms of content design is

YouTube, which with 81% of American adults using it has more than twice as many users as any

other social media site other than Facebook (69%) (Auxier & Anderson, 2021). But health

communicators cannot expect to rely on YouTube alone. They must take a comprehensive

approach not just on the platform(s) they use, but in the strategies they use as well.

This brief will therefore examine the successes (and failures) of campaigns disseminating

health- and health care-related information on social media to help consumers make educated

decisions about their health. Health communicators will be able to use its findings to identify

tactics, topics, and stumbling points as they prepare their own efforts to promote health literacy

via social media. Additionally, health communication researchers will be able to use this brief as

an entry point into future, more in-depth research that evaluates what makes the campaigns

successful, identifies what successful campaigns have in common, and explores how campaign

strategies can work together.

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References

Auxier, B., & Anderson, M. (2021, April 7). Social media use in 2021. Pew Research Center.

https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/04/07/social-media-use-in-2021/

Bell, B., & Gallagher, F. (2020, May 26). Who is spreading COVID-19 misinformation and why.

ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/US/spreading-covid-19-

misinformation/story?id=70615995

CDC. (2021, July 22). How to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation. Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/health-

departments/addressing-vaccine-misinformation.html

Gabarron, E., Oyeyemi, S. O., & Wynn, R. (2021). COVID-19-related misinformation on social

media: a systematic review. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 99(6), 455–463A.

https://doi.org/10.2471/blt.20.276782

Porter, A. W., Cooper, S. C., Palmedo, P. C., Wojtowicz, N., Chong, J., & Maddalon, M. (2021).

Podcasts and Their Potential to Improve Sexual Health Literacy in Adolescents and

Young Adults. American Journal of Sexuality Education, 1–12.

https://doi.org/10.1080/15546128.2021.1987365

Shah, M. D., Szilagyi, P. G., Shetgiri, R., Delgado, J. R., Vangala, S., Thomas, K., Dudovitz, R.

N., Vizueta, N., Darling, J., & Kapteyn, A. (2022). Trends in Parents’ Confidence in

Childhood Vaccines During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Pediatrics, 150(3).

https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2022-057855

Shearer, E. (2021, January 12). More than eight-in-ten Americans get news from digital devices.

Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/01/12/more-than-

eight-in-ten-americans-get-news-from-digital-devices/

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Samples Studies

Devendorf, A., Bender, A., & Rottenberg, J. (2020). Depression presentations, stigma, and

mental health literacy: A critical review and YouTube content analysis. Clinical

Psychology Review, 78, 101843. ScienceDirect.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2020.101843

Abstract We review knowledge concerning public presentations for depression. These presentations impact illness beliefs and may influence public stigma, self-stigma, and depression literacy. We provide a critical review of messages, images, and information concerning depression's causes, continuum conceptualization, timeline, curability, coping/treatment regimen, and strengths. To provide data regarding the prevalence of particular presentations, we conducted a content analysis of 327 videos about depression representative of material on the YouTube social media platform. YouTube presentations of depression indicate that depression: 1) is caused by either biological (49.5%) or environmental (41.3%) factors; 2) is a categorical construct (71%); 3) is treatable, with 61% of relevant videos (n = 249) presenting recovery as “likely”; 4) is chronic, found in 76% of videos mentioning timeline; 5) is recurrent (32.5%); 6) is mostly treated via medication (47.4%) or therapy (42.8%), although diet/ exercise (28.4%) and alternative treatments (22.6%) are commonly endorsed; and 7) is rarely associated with strength (15.3%). Nearly one-third of videos were uploaded by non-professional vloggers, while just 9% were uploaded by mental health organizations. We discuss how these presentations may influence stigmatizing attitudes and depression literacy among people with and without depression and suggest future research directions to better understand how to optimize public presentations.

Lowry, M., Trivedi, N., Boyd, P., Julian, A., Treviño, M., Lama, Y., Heley, K., & Perna, F.

(2022). Making decisions about health information on social media: a mouse-tracking

study. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 7(1).

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-022-00414-5

Abstract Health misinformation is a problem on social media, and more understanding is needed about how users cognitively process it. In this study, participants’ accuracy in determining whether 60 health claims were true (e.g., “Vaccines prevent disease outbreaks”) or false (e.g., “Vaccines cause disease outbreaks”) was assessed. The 60 claims were related to three domains of health risk behavior (i.e., smoking, alcohol and vaccines). Claims were presented as Tweets or as simple text statements. We employed mouse tracking to measure reaction times, whether processing happens in discrete stages, and response uncertainty. We also examined whether health literacy was a moderating variable. The results indicate that information in statements and

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tweets is evaluated incrementally most of the time, but with overrides happening on some trials. Adequate health literacy scorers were equally certain when responding to tweets and statements, but they were more accurate when responding to tweets. Inadequate scorers were more confident on statements than on tweets but equally accurate on both. These results have important implications for understanding the underlying cognition needed to combat health misinformation online.

Roberts, M., Callahan, L., & O’Leary, C. (2017). Social media: A path to health

literacy. Information Services & Use, 37(2), 177–187. https://doi.org/10.3233/isu-170836

Abstract Social media – websites and other online tools called social networks – serve as a tool to connect people and organizations around topics of common interest. Social media platforms offer tremendous opportunity to engage quickly and sometimes in depth with many and diverse stakeholders as people have the ability to communicate back-and-forth from anywhere in the world. As increasing numbers of people receive their news and health information online, it is important to ensure content delivered through online resources is accessible to diverse target audiences. This article discusses a mid-sized health literacy nonprofit organizations’ social media philosophy and tactics during the past 10 years, as both social media and health literacy strategies evolved continuously. The integration of social media in health literacy program content depends on the use with best evidence health literacy strategies, such as the use of plain language techniques. Strategy and technical considerations for the implementation and integration of social media within a health literate health communications model are discussed.