JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In contemporary society, misinformation and disinformation have emerged as significant challenges, impacting various aspects of public health and societal cohesion. Some authors argue that older adults are particularly vulnerable to the effects of misinformation due to potential digital health literacy challenges. A previous review identified pedagogical approaches most commonly adopted in interventions aiming to improve digital literacy of older adults but did not specifically address digital health literacy.

Objective:

This scoping review protocol aims to explore digital health literacy interventions targeting health misinformation and designed specifically for older adults.

Methods:

Following the methodology outlined by Arksey and O'Malley, this protocol delineates a systematic approach encompassing five stages: identification of research questions, identification of relevant studies, selection of studies, data charting, and collation of findings. Our scoping review will include peer-reviewed literature on interventions targeting misinformation for older adults. Research will be conducted on the MEDLINE (OVID), Embase (Elsevier), PsycINFO (OVID), CINAHL, and Web of Science databases. Gray literature will also be surveyed by carrying a Google search to identify interventions and tools employed by public or private organizations, institutes, groups or agencies. The databases and grey literature will be searched to identify relevant publications. 2 members of our team will independently select publications to include in the review using the review software Covidence (Veritas Health Innovation). Publications included will specifically address our research questions, be peer-reviewed, evidence-based, and published from January 1, 2005, in full-text English or French version. Data will be extracted from the included publications to mainly chart, the intervention’s objectives, types, target age groups, effectiveness and risks reported. A thematic analysis will be conducted to categorize the study findings.

Results:

The research questions were identified in January 2024. The databases and gray literature search strategies were developed in February 2024.

Conclusions:

This protocol will enable us to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in combating health misinformation among older adults. The results will also be utilized for the development of interventions targeting misinformation among older adults.