Practical Steps for Combatting COVID Misinformation: Adam Beckman & Kyla Fullenwider, Office of the U.S. Surgeon General

According to a recent Kaiser Health News study, nearly 80% of Americans believe at least some of the COVID-19 misinformation that has flooded news and social media channels since the start of the pandemic.  For today’s Raise the Line guests, this troubling report confirmed the urgency with which their boss, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has tackled this challenge.  Adam Beckman and Kyla Fullenwider, both senior-level advisors to Dr. Murthy, join host Shiv Gaglani to detail the “whole society” approach the Office of Surgeon General is taking which involves calling on major stakeholders in social media, education and journalism to do their part, but also providing help to local communities and individual Americans who Dr. Murthy sees as key players in this struggle. “The evidence tells us one of the best ways for addressing health misinformation is through individual, smaller-scale, intimate connections,” says Beckman.  To that end, the Office of Surgeon General created a Community Toolkit to provide detailed guidance on how to have difficult conversations with friends or family about misinformation including listening without judgement, steering people to credible sources whenever possible, and avoiding shaming.  Don’t miss this fascinating and vitally important conversation about what one of the most visible health figures in the nation is doing about one of the greatest challenges of our time. For More Information on the U.S. Surgeon General's Community Toolkit visit surgeongeneral.gov/healthmisinformation If you like this podcast, please share it on your social channels. You can also subscribe to the series and check out all of our episodes at www.osmosis.org/podcast