Alaska Public Health Information Response Team publishes chapter on misinformation

by Ahliil Saitanan  |   

a woman reading information on COVID on her desktop computer
Founding members of the Alaska Public Health Information Response Team submitted a book chapter proposal for a book, entitled "Building Health Misinformation Immunity: A Professional's Guide to Helping the Public," which was recently published.

Founding members of the Alaska Public Health Information Response Team submitted a book chapter proposal, entitled "Addressing Health Misinformation in the Infodemic Era: The Alaska Public Health Information Response Team," in the early spring of 2021 for consideration in a forthcoming book, "Building Health Misinformation Immunity: A Professional's Guide to Helping the Public," which was recently published. The editors of the National Library of Medicine were excited to highlight the team's misinformation-related themes and misinformation-combating measures in the practice section of the book, which was recently published and is available on Amazon. 

The chapter discusses the origin story of the Alaska Public Health Information Response Team, a community-engaged public health intervention designed to monitor and rapidly respond online to health misinformation on Facebook. This collaboration between the University of Alaska, Anchorage and the Alaska Public Health Association is the first known effort to address online misinformation in Alaska. This effort combines the scientific expertise of public health, strategic communications theory and computer science. The team works to assess both the significance of the misinformation problem and evaluate their efforts to mitigate the impact of misinformation on the local media landscape, potentially influencing community norms and health behaviors.

The team

The chapter authors include: 

  • Jennifer Meyer Ph.D., MPH, CPH, RN — UAA assistant professor of Public Health at UAA
  • Joy Chavez Mapaye, Ph.D. — UAA professor of Journalism and Public Communications at UAA
  • Thomas Hennessy, MD, MPH — UAA College of Health affiliate faculty
  • Alexandra Edwards, MA, MPH — UAA research professional IV with Institute of Social and Economic Research 
  • Tim Hinterberger, Ph.D. — UAA WWAMI School of Medical Education professor
  • Mary Ryan, BA — UAA alumni
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