Understanding and Countering Misinformation About Climate Change

While there is overwhelming scientific agreement on climate change, the public has become polarized over fundamental questions such as human-caused global warming. Communication strategies to reduce polarization rarely address the underlying cause: ideologically-driven misinformation. In order to effectively counter misinformation campaigns, scientists, communicators, and educators need to understand the arguments and techniques in climate science denial, as well as adopt evidence-based approaches to neutralizing misinforming content. This chapter reviews analyses of climate misinformation, outlining a range of denialist arguments and fallacies. Identifying and deconstructing these different types of arguments is necessary to design appropriate interventions that effectively neutralize the misinformation. This chapter also reviews research into how to counter misinformation using communication interventions such as inoculation, educational approaches such as misconception-based learning, and the interdisciplinary combination of technology and psychology known as technocognition.

Healthcare Providers’ Perspectives and Role in Improving Patient Engagement in HIV Treatment and Care in Almaty, Kazakhstan

The HIV epidemic continues to grow in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. At the same time, there are major gaps in engagement in HIV treatment and care among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the region, including Kazakhstan. Healthcare providers may have the potential to improve patients’ initiation of and adherence to HIV treatment; however, their perspectives and experiences are often overlooked in the research from Kazakhstan. The purpose of our study was to gain an in-depth understanding of how providers perceive the factors influencing PLHIV’s engagement in HIV treatment and care and to identify opportunities for expanding the role that providers can have in improving patient initiation and adherence to treatment in Kazakhstan. Through purposive sampling, we conducted in-depth interviews with 14 healthcare providers at the City AIDS Center in Almaty. We used team-based coding and thematic analysis in order to analyze the data. Quotes from providers were translated from Kazakh and Russian to English to illustrate the themes. Our results show that providers currently view their role as the need to break down myths around ART medications, and to educate and motivate patients to accept their diagnosis and learn to live with HIV. The need to address stigma and social isolation among PLHIV, the risk of overworked providers, and the need to improve patient-provider communication strategies are areas to consider for further interventions. Patient-provider communication interventions are needed in Kazakhstan in order to help meet the country’s 90-90-90 HIV targets.

Factors Influencing Willingness to Comply with Public Health Measures for COVID-19 Among Incoming Air Travelers Into Nigeria from High-Risk Countries: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Background: Complying with guidelines established to control COVID-19 pandemic is critical to the successful outcome of the response. We assessed the willingness of non-symptomatic incoming international air travelers into Nigeria to comply with COVID-19 public health measures upon arrival and identified the factors influencing them- March 2020. Method: We conducted a cross-sectional study among 500 incoming international air travelers involving 17 nationals across four major international airports in Nigeria using a pre-tested self-administered electronic questionnaire. We estimated the proportions and determined predictors of participants’ willingness to comply with the COVID-19 preventive measures. Predictors were examined using multiple logistic regression at 5% level of significance.Results: Majority (83%) were extremely/very willing to comply with public health guidelines. Perception of severity was a significant predictor of their willingness to stay at home for 14 days upon arrival (AOR: 6.82, 95 CI%: 1.19-24.45). Self -efficacy towards observing self for COVID-19 symptoms was a significant predictor of willingness to observe self for symptoms (AOR: 6.82, 95%CI: 1.19-24.45), and willingness to call of national COVID-19 numbers if symptoms develop (AOR: 6.82, 95% CI: 1.19-24.45). Conclusion: There is a need to improve risk communication interventions against COVID-19 for international air travelers particularly enhancing self-efficacy to improve their compliance to public health measures

P.092 Successful implementation of a supported conversation program on an acute stroke unit

Background: Aphasia is a life alerting deficit that affects up to 40% of people living with stroke. Barriers to communication ultimately impacts the care aphasic patients receive, as well as functional recovery. The Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations suggest early and frequent language interventions to improve patients with aphasia quality of life, mood, and social outcomes. Methods: A supported conversation (SC) program (colloquially named The Aphasia Club) was implemented on the Acute Stroke Unit (ASU). The program included aphasia awareness and assessment training, as well as creation of an aphasia tool kit and discipline specific aphasia-friendly resources. Staff were encouraged to complete a 1-hour independent course on SC through the Aphasia Institute. Speech and language pathologists (SLP) offered an additional 30-minute in-person teaching session with interdisciplinary practice professionals. Following SLP assessment, personalized communication profiles were created for patients with aphasia to help staff understand the most useful strategies for communication. Results: More then 50 interprofessional staff members took SC training. Staff reported increased levels of knowledge and confidence when communicating with aphasic patients. Conclusions: A supported communication program was successfully implemented on an ASU. Planning appropriate communication interventions can assist interdisciplinary professionals in their ability to support patients through their stroke journey.

Message Frame-Tailoring in Digital Health Communication: Intervention Redesign and Usability Testing (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Message frame-tailoring based on the need for autonomy is a promising strategy to improve the effectiveness of digital health communication interventions. An example of a digital health communication intervention is PAS, an online content-tailored smoking cessation program. PAS was effective in improving cessation success, but its effect sizes were small and disappeared after six months. OBJECTIVE We aim to improve the effectiveness of PAS further by incorporating message frame-tailoring, providing smokers with autonomy-supportive or controlling message frames – depending on their individual need for autonomy. METHODS Various methods were used to redesign the PAS program to include message frame-tailoring with optimal usability: usability testing, think-aloud methodology, heuristic evaluations, and an online experiment. RESULTS The most autonomy-supportive and controlling message frames were identified, the cut-off point for the need for autonomy to distinguish between people with a high and low need for autonomy was determined, and the usability was optimized. CONCLUSIONS This resulted in a redesigned digital health communication intervention that included message frame-tailoring and had optimal usability. A detailed description of the redesigning process of the PAS program is provided.

Does Course Specific Nudging Enhance Student Engagement, Experience and Success?: A Data-Driven Longitudinal Tale

Low levels of online student engagement impact negatively on student success and adversely affect attrition. Course learning analytics data (CLAD), combined with nudging initiatives, have emerged as strategies for engaging online students. This paper presents a mixed method case study involving a staged intervention strategy focussing on the employment of timely, strategic communication interventions conducted across 19 courses and six disciplines. The research methodology utilised CLAD, online surveys, student interviews and student evaluations of teaching. The findings substantiate benefits for both academics and students. Academics benefitted from the provision of a relatively simple, accessible and proactive intervention for increasing students’ capacities to be more in control and engaged in their learning. Students benefitted as the intervention accentuated critical resources to assist them to better address assessment requirements, align their expectations more realistically with those of the course, and more readily demonstrate their learning obligations and responsibilities.

Lifestyle decisions and climate mitigation: current action and behavioural intent of youth

Youth carry the burden of a climate crisis not of their making, yet their accumulative lifestyle decisions will help determine the severity of future climate impacts. We surveyed 17–18 year old’s (N = 487) to establish their action stages for nine behaviours that vary in efficacy of greenhouse gas emission (GGE) reduction and the explanatory role of climate change (CC) knowledge, sociodemographic and belief factors. Acceptance of CC and its anthropogenic origins was high. However, the behaviours with the greatest potential for GGE savings (have no children/one less child, no car or first/next car will be electric, eat less meat) have the lowest uptake. Descriptive normative beliefs predicted intent to adopt all high-impact actions, while environmental locus of control, CC scepticism, knowledge of the relative efficacy of actions, religiosity and age were predictive of action stage for several mitigation behaviours (multinomial logistic regression). These findings inform policy and communication interventions that seek to mobilise youth in the global climate crisis response.