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Health Communication Mar 2024The proliferation of health misinformation poses a significant threat to public health, making it increasingly important to understand why misinformation is accepted....
The proliferation of health misinformation poses a significant threat to public health, making it increasingly important to understand why misinformation is accepted. The illusory truth effect, which refers to the increased believability of a message due to repeated exposure, has been widely studied. However, there is limited research on this effect in the context of COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. This paper aims to examine the role of perceived familiarity with COVID-19 vaccine misinformation on various message perceptions, including perceived accuracy, agreement, perceived message effectiveness, and determinants of vaccination, including vaccine attitude and vaccination intention. Furthermore, it explores the impact of misinformation evidence (statistical vs. narrative) on the magnitude of the effects of perceived familiarity. To investigate these factors, a between-subjects experimental study was conducted, employing a 2 (Familiarity: strong vs. weak) × 3 (Evidence type: statistical, narrative, and both evidence) + 1 (Control: a message about drinking water) design. The results revealed that perceived familiarity with COVID-19 vaccine misinformation significantly predicted perceived accuracy, which was found to be negatively correlated with vaccine attitudes and vaccination intentions. Moreover, statistical evidence presented in misinformation was perceived as more persuasive in perceived message effectiveness, compared to narrative and mixed evidence. Interestingly, the effects of perceived familiarity were not contingent on the type of evidence used in COVID-19 vaccine misinformation. These findings emphasize the importance of avoiding the repetition of misinformation, reducing the processing fluency associated with misinformation correction, and educating individuals on how to critically evaluate statistical evidence when encountering (mis)information.
PubMed: 38514925
DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2024.2328455 -
JMIR Human Factors Mar 2024Medication incidents (MIs) causing harm to patients have far-reaching consequences for patients, pharmacists, public health, business practice, and governance policy.... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Medication incidents (MIs) causing harm to patients have far-reaching consequences for patients, pharmacists, public health, business practice, and governance policy. Medication Incident Reporting and Learning Systems (MIRLS) have been implemented to mitigate such incidents and promote continuous quality improvement in community pharmacies in Canada. They aim to collect and analyze MIs for the implementation of incident preventive strategies to increase safety in community pharmacy practice. However, this goal remains inhibited owing to the persistent barriers that pharmacies face when using these systems.
OBJECTIVE
This study aims to investigate the harms caused by medication incidents and technological barriers to reporting and identify opportunities to incorporate persuasive design strategies in MIRLS to motivate reporting.
METHODS
We conducted 2 scoping reviews to provide insights on the relationship between medication errors and patient harm and the information system-based barriers militating against reporting. Seven databases were searched in each scoping review, including PubMed, Public Health Database, ProQuest, Scopus, ACM Library, Global Health, and Google Scholar. Next, we analyzed one of the most widely used MIRLS in Canada using the Persuasive System Design (PSD) taxonomy-a framework for analyzing, designing, and evaluating persuasive systems. This framework applies behavioral theories from social psychology in the design of technology-based systems to motivate behavior change. Independent assessors familiar with MIRLS reported the degree of persuasion built into the system using the 4 categories of PSD strategies: primary task, dialogue, social, and credibility support.
RESULTS
Overall, 17 articles were included in the first scoping review, and 1 article was included in the second scoping review. In the first review, significant or serious harm was the most frequent harm (11/17, 65%), followed by death or fatal harm (7/17, 41%). In the second review, the authors found that iterative design could improve the usability of an MIRLS; however, data security and validation of reports remained an issue to be addressed. Regarding the MIRLS that we assessed, participants considered most of the primary task, dialogue, and credibility support strategies in the PSD taxonomy as important and useful; however, they were not comfortable with some of the social strategies such as cooperation. We found that the assessed system supported a number of persuasive strategies from the PSD taxonomy; however, we identified additional strategies such as tunneling, simulation, suggestion, praise, reward, reminder, authority, and verifiability that could further enhance the perceived persuasiveness and value of the system.
CONCLUSIONS
MIRLS, equipped with persuasive features, can become powerful motivational tools to promote safer medication practices in community pharmacies. They have the potential to highlight the value of MI reporting and increase the readiness of pharmacists to report incidents. The proposed persuasive design guidelines can help system developers and community pharmacy managers realize more effective MIRLS.
Topics: Humans; Learning; Persuasive Communication; Suggestion; Motivation; Canada
PubMed: 38512325
DOI: 10.2196/41557 -
The Journal of Nursing Administration Apr 2024To assess the role of soft skills in the work of Hospital at Home (HaH) nurse navigators.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the role of soft skills in the work of Hospital at Home (HaH) nurse navigators.
BACKGROUND
In HaH programs that employ them, nurse navigators are often responsible for identifying, assessing, referring, and educating potential HaH patients. The experiences of these navigators have gone understudied.
METHODS
Researchers conducted semistructured interviews and observations with nurse navigators (n = 7) who collectively cover 14 North Carolina-based HaH sites. Navigators were asked to keep diaries of responses to directed questions.
RESULTS
In their capacity as navigators, interviewees said they served several roles: intermediaries between hospital and HaH staff, interpreters of clinical knowledge for patients, and champions of, and educators for, the home-based program. The navigators noted that the interpersonal soft skills of building rapport, clear communication, and gentle persuasion were of the utmost importance in this work.
CONCLUSIONS
The job descriptions of nurse navigators in HaH programs should fully reflect the breadth of their responsibilities, including time performing soft skilled labor. Also, training for these roles should include techniques to develop and refine these skills.
Topics: Humans; Communication; Persuasive Communication; Hospitals; Job Description; North Carolina
PubMed: 38512086
DOI: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000001417 -
Tropical Diseases, Travel Medicine and... Mar 2024The COVID-19 vaccine has faced increased hesitancy in Ghana and the Volta region in particular since its rollout. Acceptance of the vaccine among intercity commercial...
BACKGROUND
The COVID-19 vaccine has faced increased hesitancy in Ghana and the Volta region in particular since its rollout. Acceptance of the vaccine among intercity commercial drivers is crucial, especially in the Volta region, as they transport people within and outside the country and could fuel the transmission of the virus if not vaccinated.
OBJECTIVE
We therefore established lay beliefs surrounding COVID-19 vaccine refusal among intercity commercial drivers in the Volta region of Ghana, as well as their recommendations for improved vaccine uptake.
METHODS
We purposively interviewed twenty-five (25) intercity commercial drivers who had not been vaccinated for COVID-19 in the Volta region of Ghana using a semi-structured interview guide and analysed their responses thematically using the ATLAS.ti software.
RESULTS
Various (ten) beliefs surrounding COVID-19 vaccine refusal were identified. These include the nonexistence of COVID-19, being immune to COVID-19, and the belief in the nonexistence of vaccines and vaccines being meant for the sick. Other beliefs identified were the belief that the COVID-19 vaccine is meant to reduce Africa's population, that the vaccine triggers other health complications leading to death, the belief that vaccination could cause financial loss, political mistrust, that the COVID-19 vaccine is not permitted by God, and the belief that prayer prevents COVID-19 infection. They also suggested that the adoption of persuasive communication techniques, the publication of information on those who died of COVID-19, providing evidence of tests conducted on the vaccine, testing people before vaccination, provision of care to those who may experience side effects from the vaccine, and being able to explain why varied vaccines are used for the same virus could help improve vaccine uptake.
CONCLUSION
Our findings show that there is a general lack of understanding and mistrust surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine among intercity commercial drivers in the Volta region. Hence, health promotion officers and communicators in the region need to be knowledgeable on the vaccine as well as on the conspiracy theories thwarting its uptake to provide comprehensive education to the public and intercity commercial drivers to improve its uptake.
PubMed: 38424622
DOI: 10.1186/s40794-023-00214-9 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2024Matching the language or content of a message to the psychological profile of its recipient (known as "personalized persuasion") is widely considered to be one of the...
Matching the language or content of a message to the psychological profile of its recipient (known as "personalized persuasion") is widely considered to be one of the most effective messaging strategies. We demonstrate that the rapid advances in large language models (LLMs), like ChatGPT, could accelerate this influence by making personalized persuasion scalable. Across four studies (consisting of seven sub-studies; total N = 1788), we show that personalized messages crafted by ChatGPT exhibit significantly more influence than non-personalized messages. This was true across different domains of persuasion (e.g., marketing of consumer products, political appeals for climate action), psychological profiles (e.g., personality traits, political ideology, moral foundations), and when only providing the LLM with a single, short prompt naming or describing the targeted psychological dimension. Thus, our findings are among the first to demonstrate the potential for LLMs to automate, and thereby scale, the use of personalized persuasion in ways that enhance its effectiveness and efficiency. We discuss the implications for researchers, practitioners, and the general public.
Topics: Climate; Language; Marketing; Morals; Persuasive Communication
PubMed: 38409168
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-53755-0 -
Health Education Research Feb 2024Mobile mammography units (MMUs) can enhance access to breast cancer screening by providing convenient, cost-effective service, particularly for uninsured and...
Mobile mammography units (MMUs) can enhance access to breast cancer screening by providing convenient, cost-effective service, particularly for uninsured and underinsured women. However, prior studies indicate that acceptability concerns about quality and privacy, among other issues, may prevent women from utilizing MMUs. The current study employs a within-participant experimental design exposing participants to messages about different MMU characteristics to determine which characteristics are most effective in persuading them to use an MMU. The study also examined how messaging interacts with participants' ethnic identity to influence outcomes. Data were collected from a diverse sample of uninsured and underinsured women as part of a formative study to promote the utilization of a mobile mammography facility in Central Texas. Results of mixed-effect linear models show that messages about equity, appointment convenience, privacy and comfort, and quality of equipment and staff were rated as more persuasive than messages about convenience of location and language accessibility. However, Hispanic women rated language accessibility higher than other participants did. The results can guide MMU organizers and promotion managers as they determine the best approach to promote mobile mammography services in different communities.
PubMed: 38394465
DOI: 10.1093/her/cyae010 -
Health Communication Feb 2024In recent years, short-form social media videos have emerged as an important source of health-related advice. In this study, we investigate whether experts or ordinary...
In recent years, short-form social media videos have emerged as an important source of health-related advice. In this study, we investigate whether experts or ordinary users in such videos are more effective in debunking the common misperception that talking about suicide should be avoided. We also explore a new trend on TikTok and other platforms, in which users attempt to back up their arguments by displaying scientific articles in the background of their videos. To test the effect of source type (expert vs. ordinary user) and scientific references (present or absent), we conducted a 2 × 2 between-subject plus control group experiment ( = 956). In each condition, participants were shown a TikTok video that was approximately 30 seconds long. Our findings show that in all four treatment groups, participants reduced their misperceptions on the topic. The expert was rated as being more authoritative on the topic compared to the ordinary user. However, the expert was also rated as being less credible compared to the ordinary user. The inclusion of a scientific reference did not make a difference. Thus, both experts and ordinary users may be similarly persuasive in a short-form video environment.
PubMed: 38389200
DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2023.2301201 -
Journal of Health Communication Apr 2024To design effective health messages, this study investigates the effects of gain-loss framing and relevant moderating effects in the context of college students' alcohol...
To design effective health messages, this study investigates the effects of gain-loss framing and relevant moderating effects in the context of college students' alcohol use. Specifically, based on an online experiment, we tested the moderation effects of message-sidedness and binge-drinking behaviors using a mediation model in which the association between gain-loss framing and behavioral intentions is mediated by attitudes toward binge-drinking. Four hundred thirty-four Korean college students participated in this study. Hayes' PROCESS Macro for SPSS was employed for the analysis. The results show that loss-framing significantly increased participants' unfavorable attitudes toward binge-drinking in the one-sided message condition. Moreover, attitudes toward binge-drinking were more significantly associated with behavioral intentions to binge-drink among heavy drinkers than among non-heavy drinkers. Our findings suggest important theoretical and practical implications for the development of message-framing strategies in health campaigns designed to prevent college students' binge-drinking in collectivistic societies where the cultural meaning of drinking extends beyond the individual realm to the larger social context.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Binge Drinking; Young Adult; Intention; Republic of Korea; Universities; Alcohol Drinking in College; Students; Persuasive Communication; Health Communication; Health Promotion; Adolescent
PubMed: 38380902
DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2024.2318263 -
Scientific Reports Feb 2024Although misinformation exposure takes place within a social context, significant conclusions have been drawn about misinformation susceptibility through studies that...
Although misinformation exposure takes place within a social context, significant conclusions have been drawn about misinformation susceptibility through studies that largely examine judgements in a social vacuum. Bridging the gap between social influence research and the cognitive science of misinformation, we examine the mechanisms through which social context impacts misinformation susceptibility across 5 experiments (N = 20,477). We find that social cues only impact individual judgements when they influence perceptions of wider social consensus, and that source similarity only biases news consumers when the source is high in credibility. Specifically, high and low engagement cues ('likes') reduced misinformation susceptibility relative to a control, and endorsement cues increased susceptibility, but discrediting cues had no impact. Furthermore, political ingroup sources increased susceptibility if the source was high in credibility, but political outgroup sources had no effect relative to a control. This work highlights the importance of studying cognitive processes within a social context, as judgements of (mis)information change when embedded in the social world. These findings further underscore the need for multifaceted interventions that take account of the social context in which false information is processed to effectively mitigate the impact of misinformation on the public.
Topics: Cues; Communication; Persuasive Communication; Social Media
PubMed: 38378750
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54030-y -
Journal of Personality and Social... Apr 2024How do people select targets when tasked with persuading a group of people? One approach would be to prioritize getting people in support of the persuader's position to...
How do people select targets when tasked with persuading a group of people? One approach would be to prioritize getting people in support of the persuader's position to hold relatively extreme attitudes-an An alternative approach would be to prioritize getting as many people as possible to support the persuader's position, regardless of how extreme they are-a . Although some situations might allow persuaders to combine these strategies, the present work examines how people select targets and strategies when a natural trade-off exists between acquiring fewer people with more extreme attitudes versus more people with less extreme attitudes. Prior work suggests that potential advantages exist for both extremity and consensus strategies. However, the current research finds that people exhibit a strong preference for a consensus strategy when tasked with selecting targets in group persuasion contexts. Further, this preference prevails even when consensus strategies would backfire and cause one's persuasive efforts to fail. This is demonstrated across eight primary experiments, which also reveal why people are drawn to a consensus strategy as well as explore potential boundary conditions for this preference. This work has implications for understanding how persuaders select targets and strategies in the context of group persuasion. In addition, the paradigms and results invite a host of new avenues for future research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).
Topics: Humans; Persuasive Communication; Consensus; Adult; Female; Attitude; Male; Young Adult; Group Processes
PubMed: 38358655
DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000382