Health literacy and empowerment in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presented a teachable moment to empower citizens to assess and apply information to protect their health by promoting critical health literacy. Most Americans took preventive measures, suggesting some overall increase in critical health literacy around infectious disease. Simultaneously, however, a torrent of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation intentionally buried facts, sewed doubt and confusion, promoted lies and conspiracies, and undermined health authorities and institutions. The authors discuss how this ‘infodemic’ rose from previously localized, unconnected anti-vaccination, anti-government, and anti-science groups galvanized by the pandemic. Prominent politicians seeking political gain lent the power of their offices to the movement, layering a ‘polidemic’ onto the infodemic and overwhelming inconsistent public health messaging. Even those with strong health literacy skills were challenged. Millions were misled to over-confidently self-manage their risk, revealing the possibility and perils of empowerment in the absence of critical health literacy skills – negative empowerment. The roots of resistance to the government response to COVID-19, and conditions that fostered its influence are examined, followed by recommendations to position health literacy scholars and practitioners to better meet communication challenges and opportunities in future crises.