Audience: Health Community

To prevent individuals from believing false claims, “prebunking” can be an effective tactic. “Prebunking” works by inoculating people against false arguments they may be likely to hear. This strategy was tested on COVID vaccine truths and falsehoods, but it has also been found to work for beliefs about climate change, alcohol education, extremism, and health issues. This strategy was tested using 30-second videos. This study tried three approaches within the videos: 1) reveal common manipulative rhetorical strategies (e.g., invoking fear with dramatic music), 2) counter false claims about vaccine safety with facts, and 3) a hybrid approach to address both strategies, identifying the rhetorical manipulation and false information about vaccines. People who watched the 30-second video were more likely to recognize rhetorical strategies in the video containing misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, reported lower support for sharing or financially supporting the video containing misinformation, and indicated higher willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Organizing patients in healthcare settings to register to vote can be a successful electoral strategy. During the 2020 presidential election, a small but motivated group of healthcare professionals set a goal to organize, meet with regularly, and support 10,000 people to register to vote. Following the organizing wisdom of Marshal Ganz, this campaign prioritized telling personal narratives and centering relationship-building. A small core team launched this campaign, then recruited a second tier of volunteers and leaders. In the end, the campaign reached 9,800 voters, engaged 35 healthcare professional to actively lead part of the effort, and directly informed 500 health professionals about Vot-ER and the importance of civic engagement.