Scienceploitation: Separating Health Facts from Hype

Nearly half of all adults turn to social media, at least in part, for health information. This represents a growing concern when considering how the spread of health misinformation has ballooned in recent years. The consequences are significant for individuals who may make uninformed decisions about their health, but they also extend to employers when it comes to utilization and increased costs.

In this episode, Tim Caulfield, bestselling author and professor in the Faculty of Law and School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, explores how social media, influencers, and algorithms have transformed how people discover health information. He examines the rise of "scienceploitation", a phenomenon where scientific language and research are manipulated to promote questionable health claims, and the subsequent challenge to distinguish evidence-based information from hype.
Caulfield also explains why misleading content spreads so widely and rapidly, how it influences behavior, and what we can do to combat it by strengthening trust in credible sources.

From healthcare utilization and benefit costs to employee health and well-being, the adverse effects of health misinformation can have far-reaching consequences. This timely conversation highlights the forces shaping health beliefs today and the implications for workforce health.

Speakers
Timothy Caulfield | Professor in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta, author of The Certainty Illusion: What You Don’t Know and Why it Matters
LuAnn Heinen | Business Group on Health