C.10. Skills building seminar: Critical health literacy in the digital age: skills to navigate a distorted information environment

Abstract

Abstract   Traditional media and health literacy training teach people to evaluate sources and check facts. In the current digital information environment, this is no longer sufficient. Algorithms that identify vulnerability before clinicians do, influencers whose follower counts substitute for credentials, encrypted messaging networks that amplify misinformation beyond public health’s reach, and AI companions that validate self-destructive logic all operate through mechanisms that fact-checking alone cannot address. Most workforce training has not caught up. This seminar addresses that gap with a practical framework developed and tested across European and Australian public health contexts. Participants will leave with five critical inquiry lenses that go beyond fact assessment toward understanding how digital environments shape health decisions: distinguishing commercial from caring intent and identifying hidden revenue models behind health advice; applying an empathy filter to understand why distorted information feels compelling; recognising how platform design affects trust and scepticism; identifying algorithmic and economic incentives that reward engagement over accuracy; and examining the shift from institutional to relatable authority and what health systems fail to provide that influencers successfully deliver. These lenses are practised through cases drawn from current digital health trends: flavoured vaping products marketed through social media to young Europeans, at a time when Europe is the only WHO region not on track to meet tobacco reduction targets among women and girls; the UK manosphere and its measurable impact on boys’ mental health; algorithmic amplification of eating disorder and self-harm content; HPV vaccine hesitancy in Denmark and France, where media controversies produced spillover distrust; and wellness-to-conspiracy pipelines steering users toward rejection of clinical medicine. Each case is examined through the social, emotional, and technical factors shaping how people encounter, trust, and act on health information online. The session opens with a brief framing presentation, followed by structured small-group work applying each lens to real cases, with expert contributors joining each group. Groups report back through facilitated plenary discussion, and participants complete an individual reflection exercise, leaving with a practical inquiry toolkit for their own training, communication, and clinical practice. Key messages • Critical health literacy in the digital age requires understanding the socio-technical systems that shape health decisions, not only the accuracy of information itself. • Public health practitioners need transferable analytical tools to recognize the emotional, commercial, and algorithmic forces driving health misinformation. Speakers/Panellists Elisabeth Wilhelm University of West Attica, Boston, MA, USA Becky White Curtin University, Perth, Australia Catherine Bertrand-Ferrandis OLYLO, Paris, France