Determining Credible Information, Misinformation, about Vaccinations and Impact on Decision Making

What Is It All About?

Participants consider the sources of health information they are exposed to and the credibility of the information. Participants determine the criteria they would use to determine the credibility of the information and how it impacts their perceptions about topics such as vaccines and vaccinations and their decisions and choices.

Curriculum Connections

1, C1, C2

Why Do It?

Providing participants with an opportunity to think critically about health information they consume via news and social media outlets better positions them to make informed decisions as they adopt greater responsibility for their health and overall wellness.

How Do We Do It?

• Use a Think/Pair/Share strategy for participants to generate ideas about where they would most likely access information to answer questions they have about their health or emerging health topics such as vaccinations (e.g., local health clinic, websites, electronic and print news sources, social media, peers, adults). Have participants explain why they would choose to access these sources of information. Record participants' responses for them to reference.
• Explain to participants that it is important to know how to gather and analyze health information from various sources to make informed decisions about their health and wellbeing as they become more responsible for their health choices, decisions and actions. It is important to recognize sources of credible information and sources that may contain misconceptions or inaccurate information.
• Use a Popcorn strategy for participants to generate a list of criteria they would use to determine the accuracy of the information and ensure they have sufficient information to make an informed decision (e.g., is it an authoritative, credible, relevant, current source, does it contain a balanced view, checking bias, gathering information for various sources versus relying on one source of information). Record participants' responses for reference.
• Share two sources of information (print/ visual/website) about a health topic of interest to participants and model using the participant-generated criteria to assess the information contained in the source(s). Consider accessing Ophea’s Vaccination Talks Toolkit Resource Database for sample sources of information.
• Divide participants into groups of 3-4 and provide sufficient time to gather two sources of information about the topic of vaccinations, one source they assess as being factual and accurate while the other containing misconceptions, missing or biased information or misinformation. Have groups post their sources in a designated space.
• Use a Gallery Walk strategy for groups to examine the various sources of information to decide which sources are credible and which are not, and why. As groups circulate through the Gallery Walk, instruct them to place a checkmark beside each source of information they think is factual and accurate and an X beside each source of information they believe contains missing information/misinformation or bias. Have groups consider how the different sources might influence an individual’s perceptions, choices and decisions related to vaccinations.
• Once groups have circulated through all the Gallery Walk stations, have them note the sources of information that have check marks and sources of information that have an X. Invite groups to share their reasoning for placing a checkmark or X on one or more of the sources of information they critiqued and how the sources of information might influence an individual’s perceptions, choices and decisions related to vaccinations. Use the sharing to clarify and extend participant understanding of the importance of assessing the credibility of the information and how information impacts an individual’s perceptions, choices, and decisions about health topics such as vaccinations.

What Else Do We Need?

• Various sources of information about health topics of interest to participants
• Space for activity

How Do We Get Creative?

• Have participants use the information from the Gallery Walk to identify the sources they would access to answer their questions about vaccinations and to guide them in making an informed decision about vaccinations.
• Consider collaborating with other colleagues to create cross-curricular learning opportunities (e.g., English, Media Studies).
• Create an infographic or flow chart that could be used to determine the validity of a source of information and/or resource.