HealthCheckR

Identifying trustworthy health information on social media

In the HealthCheckR project, we are working with citizens to create a simple tool that helps people find trustworthy health information on social media. This will help stop false information and support better health decisions.

What are the goals of the project?

The goal of the project is to develop an easy-to-understand and tested tool together with citizens that helps identify whether health information on social media is trustworthy.

How can you contribute to the project?

You can contribute to our project in different ways – we’re happy to have you on board! Here’s how you can take part:

1. Share your opinion & help shape the tool as a citizen scientist, you can:
   • take part in workshops or surveys,
   • give feedback on early versions of the tool,
   • tell us what works well and what needs improvement.
2. Test our tool
   • You can try out the prototype and let us know how easy it is to use, how clear the content is, and whether it meets your needs.
3. Help spread the word
   • If you like, you can support us in sharing the final tool – for example, via your social media channels or in conversations with others. How to join the project We’ll soon publish all relevant information about how to participate, including key dates and contact details, on our project website and through our social media channels. Or just send us an email.

The main roles and responsibilities are:

Citizen Scientists as members of the Project Steering Group (PSG):
In this role, they share their experiences as users of social media. Together with experts, they help make important decisions about the project. For example:

• choosing a project name and logo,
• planning the co-research workshops,
• discussing the results of the literature review,
• helping to invite more Citizen Scientists,
• deciding how the tool should look and work,
• contributing to the communication strategy,
• helping to share the project results – and more.

Citizen Scientists as co-researchers:
They support the research team in understanding findings from other studies – especially from the perspective of people who use social media to find health information.

They help check which findings are relevant in Austria and help write the evaluation criteria in a clear and easy-to-understand way.

Citizen Scientists as co-designers:
The main outcome of the project is a tool that helps people check the reliability of health information on social media. This tool is developed together with Citizen Scientists in co-design workshops.

They also help plan how to share the tool – for example on social media or at events – so that it reaches as many people as possible.

There are also several roles within the research team:
These include:

• project management,
• contribution to the literature review,
• organizing and moderating workshops,
• communication with experts and the public.