A WHO/UNICEF manual for health workforce on how to build an infodemic insights report in 6 steps

BACKGROUND: An infodemic is an overwhelming amount of information, including mis- and disinformation, that accompanies health emergencies such as outbreaks. Infodemics contain questions, concerns, information voids (where people seek credible, accurate information but cannot find it) and circulating mis- and disinformation. When there is a gap between health guidance and population behavior within a noisy information environment that affects people's perceptions, attitudes and health decisions, infodemic insights can help inform how an emergency response or a health program responds. OBJECTIVES: A manual was developed through an iterative discussion and consultative process between November 2022 and February 2023, to provide a quick overview of the steps required to develop an infodemic insights report that can be used for emergency response or for routine health programming. RESULTS: The manual and teaching materials have been iteratively adapted based on their delivery at conferences and workshops. The process the manual describes reflects the learnings and experiences of WHO, UNICEF and other partner organizations on conducting social listening and infodemic insights report generation during the COVID-19 pandemic. it explains 6 steps, starting with questions that infodemic insights can help answer, through selection of data sources, conduct of integrated analysis, development of strategies and recommendations, to development and dissemination of the report. Annexes include checklists, templates, worksheets, and key messages for use by practitioners. Accompanying out-of-the box teaching simulation and other reference and training materials facilitate adoption. CONCLUSIONS: The manual is part of the WHO toolbox for infodemic managers which applies latest evidence-based approaches to monitor, detect, respond to and mitigate harm form infodemics during health emergencies. It will be applied across training and capacity building programmes on infodemic management. KEY MESSAGES: • A systematic approach to monitoring infodemics and developing infodemic insights that are reproducible and evidence-based are needed. • Guidance on integrating diverse datasets in analyzing and understanding infodemics in specific populations and contexts will be published in a manual by WHO and UNICEF.