Author: Vanessa Greenwood, Ph.D.

Professor at Montclair State University, New Jersey, USA | Research interests include media literacy, communication, education, and technology.

Why we fall for fake health information – and how it spreads faster than facts

Healthy Teens Archive

In today’s digital world, people routinely turn to the internet for health or medical information. In addition to actively searching online, they often come across health-related information on social media or receive it through emails or messages from family or friends. It can be tempting to share such messages with loved ones – often with the best of intentions.

Health Media Literacy is Core Curriculum

critical health literacy, critical media health literacy, health literacy, media literacy, media literacy education, professional development, resources

Navigating the current pandemic requires that young people acquire an increasingly complex set of skills, such as understanding statistical data, evaluating the credibility and truthfulness of health information, analyzing the risks and benefits of a particular treatment or vaccine, and interpreting test results. An essential skill in 2021 is health media literacy.

Health Media Literacy is a 21st Century Essential Skill

book content, Healthy Teens Archive

Optimal health is not just the absence of illness or disease; it is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. I can’t think of anything more challenging right now, as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.  While we may be locked down temporarily, we must not lock ourselves in to the status quo of formalized schooling—including what constitutes core curriculum. Disparate times call for disparate measures, so to speak.