Internal acts of authentication health information are when the professional uses their medical knowledge to assess a health-related claim. This includes using cues about the author, checking for cues in the text, and checking the topic of the post. 

Internal acts of authentication

If internal authentication does not provide enough information to determine the veracity of the claim, health professionals turn to external cues for authenticating the claim. This method involves using external sources rather than one's own knowledge. These include examining the author and examining the content. 

External acts of authentication

Through semi-structured interviews, researchers outlined a framework that healthcare professionals use to correct misinformation they come across on social media. These steps include:
- Internal acts of authentication 
- External acts of authentication
- Preparation for correction
- Correction Dissemination

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ohio State University, Columbus

Correcting health misinformation has been found to be more effective than corrections related to political information. Ingroup protective behavior, confirmation bias, and motivated reasoning could contribute to the greater difficulty in correcting political misinformation. 

Health Misinformation Corrections

Bautista, J. R., Zhang, Y., & Gwizdka, J. (2021). Healthcare professionals’ acts of correcting health misinformation on social media. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 148(104375). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104375

Healthcare professionals’ acts of correcting health misinformation on social media

Overall, corrections of health misinformation on social media were found to be effective in lessening the impact of misinformation, and there was no evidence of backfire effects. 

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