Doctors Manitoba warns about medical misinformation as it launches annual wellness campaign
37% of Canadian Medical Association survey respondents said they get health info online due to lack of doctor
Doctors Manitoba says it's doing its part in the fight against medical misinformation.
The organization representing the province's physicians said it's looking to combat the spread of false medical information online as part of this year's Getting Healthy campaign, which encourages Manitobans to focus on their well-being during the winter months by offering incentives for those who make a pledge to improve their health.
The Getting Healthy website includes guides and links to educational material on many health-related subjects, including vaccines.
"It's harder than ever for Manitobans to improve their health … between the cold weather and winters and the rise of online medical misinformation," Dr. Randy Guzman, the organization's president, said Thursday.
"It can be difficult to know what to trust or who to trust, and where to start."
A recent survey commissioned by the Canadian Medical Association suggests 43 per cent of Canadians are highly vulnerable to believing in misinformation.
The association said that number is growing as a lack of access to physicians leads to more people looking for advice outside medical settings.
Thirty-seven per cent of respondents said they had no choice but to seek health information online because they don't have access to a doctor, according to the survey.
It was conducted online from Nov. 12-19, 2024, and sampled 3,727 Canadians. A margin of error cannot be assigned to an online survey, but the margin for a comparable probability-based random sample of the same size is plus or minus 1.96 per cent, 19 times out of 20, the survey says.
"This was a top concern, of course, during the [height] of the COVID-19 pandemic, but misinformation is more common and more rampant now," Guzman said.
"It can appear very highly credible and leave people vulnerable to avoiding proven approaches to prevent and treat medical conditions, or trying things that actually can be dangerous to one's health."
Finding a trusted source
The organization's warning also comes as social media giant Meta moves to end its fact-checking program south of the border following Donald Trump's election.
Kara Brisson-Boivin, research director at MediaSmarts, said it's becoming increasingly difficult to separate what's true from what's not.
Last fall, the non-profit media literacy group brought back the North American house hippo — the fictional critter that once helped teach Canadian children not to believe everything they see on TV — to warn about the dangers of artificial intelligence.
Brisson-Boivin said when it comes to science, knowing whom to trust is also becoming more challenging because the idea of expertise is getting blurrier.
"The scientific and medical communities … determine best practice through consensus," she said.
"[That] can sometimes bump up against individuals in positions of authority whose opinions may differ from the community's consensus, but … the most trusted sources of information for us are those large bodies of consensus."
On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers continued questioning Trump's pick for top health official over his past promotion of widely discredited theories.
Senators grilled Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over previous statements questioning the safety of vaccines during Day 2 of his confirmation hearing to become the U.S. health secretary.
Starting the conversation
Dr. Christen Rachul, who teaches with the University of Manitoba's faculty of medicine, said the situation south of the border is concerning, but she feels like she's been here before.
Rachul, who has previously done research on how misinformation spread during the COVID-19 pandemic, said the sophisticated algorithms underlying social media make it extremely easy for people to get "stuck in silos," where they're constantly fed misinformation.
Some work has been done to consider that issue in medical school and residency training, as future doctors learn how to interact with patients, she said.
"There is a lot more patients coming with their own suggestions … which is not a bad thing," said Rachul.
"They have concerns. They want to figure out a way to be healthy and live well in the way that they want. So I think one of the biggest things that physicians can do is just to engage in that conversation … and just kind of coming to that understanding with a bit more empathy and actual openness."
Participants in the Doctors Manitoba Getting Healthy campaign can take a pledge to do things like catching up on immunizations, or taking steps to move more, eat healthier, get better sleep or reduce stress to earn a chance to win prizes. This year's grand prize is a Churchill trip for two.
About 18,000 made a pledge during last year's challenge, the organization said.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Rosanna Hempel