Timothy Caulfield, JD: Addressing Misinformation in the Health Care Space

Timothy Caulfield, JD, is a professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health. Caulfield also conducts research about the misrepresentation of science and health- related issues.

At the 2024 Society for Pediatric Dermatology (SPD) Annual Meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Caulfield presented a session titled, "The Misinformation Crisis: How Did We Get Here and What Can We Do?"

Caulfield spoke with Dermatology Times to discuss the highlights of his session and what he believes health care providers can do to combat misinformation.

"I think this community can make a real difference," Caulfield said. "We know that there's been an erosion in trust for institutions, generally, for science and for physicians, but health care providers are still amongst the most trusted voices, especially when you're talking about that physician patient relationship."

Transcript

Timothy Caulfield, JD: My name is Timothy Caulfield, and I'm a professor at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Law and the School of Public Health, and I do research primarily around how science and health is represented in the public sphere. I do a lot of research on health and science policy, and of course, that means, especially lately, a lot of research on health misinformation.

I'm really looking forward to talking to this community. First of all, I think this community is incredibly relevant. I think this is a hot topic for this community, for this audience, so I'm looking forward to engaging with them, and also really interested in their thoughts about what kinds of issues in the misinformation sphere they're seeing. But the other reason I'm thrilled to have this opportunity is I think this community can make a real difference. We know that there's been an erosion in trust for institutions, generally, for science and for physicians, but health care providers are still amongst the most trusted voices, especially when you're talking about that physician patient relationship. Very excited to talk with this community, and looking forward to the event.

Dermatology Times: What are key highlights and takeaways from your session, "The Misinformation Crisis: How Did We Get Here and What Can We Do?"

Caulfield: Look, I hope it was obvious that this is a major problem. I think that the spread of health misinformation is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and I really tried to hammer that. I don't think that's a hard sell for this community, but the scope and the breadth of the problem is really tremendous, and so the presentation was a little bit a call to arms. We need everyone to step up.

Dermatology Times: What pearls related to misinformation do you feel are most applicable for pediatric dermatologists?

Caulfield: First of all, recognizing that we can make a difference, and I think sometimes it feels very frustrating because there's just so much misinformation out there. But the good news is, and I hope I showed this, the good news is that we can make a difference. We can pre-bunk. We can do that on a professional level, in a population level, but also on a patient level. This is the kind of misinformation you're likely to see in this sphere that can arm patients and the public right, with the tools to see through through the bunk.

We can also debunk. We pre-bunk, and we can debunk, in other words, correct that information, do it in the public sphere, but also do it at the individual level. I know that can be really frustrating. It feels like it can't make a difference, but you can make a difference. I think it's also really important to play a role in teaching critical thinking skills at the professional level, at the organizational level, to really explain how good science makes it to the clinic, because I think that can help arm patients with the knowledge so they can see through the nonsense. Of course, I also think that we just need to speak up more frequently, or even organizations like this can take a stand, can produce content that can help patients navigate our noisy information environment. All of those strategies can make a difference.

Dermatology Times: How can dermatologists and health care providers work together to combat misinformation?

Caulfield: Look, I hope that I inspired a little bit of group commitment to this problem. I think organizations like yours can band together and tackle specific issues as they emerge. For example, there's so much misinformation right now around sunscreen and the impact of the sun. Let's make content that is shareable on social media that makes the science clear, and let's do that as a community, because I think emphasizing what the scientific consensus actually says, and research tells us this, by the way, we can make a difference. Explaining what the scientific consensus is can change both perspectives and behavior. That's one thing that we can do as as a community.

One thing, especially in this space: There is so much ridiculous nonsense out there: people drinking urine, people irradiating their testicles. There's just so much nonsense in the dermatological space that it's easy to laugh it off. Don't laugh it off. Even the absurd stuff can land, so view that absurd noise as an opportunity to talk about the science. Don't just laugh it off. We've got to counter even the most absurd nonsense.

[Transcript has been edited for clarity.]