The Misinfodemic and Its Effects on COVID-19 Preventive Strategies in Socially Vulnerable Populations.
The Department of Social Determinants of Health was established
in response to a call to action from the World Health Organization
Commission on Social Determinants of Health to address the avoidable social,
physical, and economic inequities that affect health and health outcomes,
particularly among the world’s most vulnerable populations.
The five key areas of SDOH include health and healthcare, education,
neighborhood and work environment, financial stability, and social
and community interconnection.
The Centers for Disease Control divides the risk factors that affect SDOH into four
groups that define socially vulnerable populations: housing type
and transportation, socioeconomic status, household composition,
and disability, minority status, and language.
Coronavirus disease-2019 was initially assumed to be the great
equalizer, as everyone was regarded similarly vulnerable.
However, age, concomitant medical disorders, and populations with non-medical
social vulnerabilities were found to have the worst outcomes from COVID-19 infection,
excessively impacting minorities.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the most common
sources of COVID-19 information were online news platforms and social media.
To improve COVID-19 preventive measures
among socially vulnerable populations, it is critical to understand
the risk of social media misinformation and its intersection with
eHealth literacy, education, and social context.
When trust in scientific evidence is low, susceptibility to misinformation is high.
Although trust is an essential factor in susceptibility to misinformation.
The Misinfodemic and Its Effects on COVID-19 Preventive Strategies in Socially Vulnerable Populations.
Public Health Open J. 2023; 8(1): 13-17. doi: 10.17140/PHOJ-8-164
