The Sociotechnical Construction of Distrust during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

What were the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on trust in public health information, and what can be done to rebuild trust in public health authorities? This essay synthesizes insights from science and technology studies, information studies, and bioethics to explore sociotechnical factors that may have contributed to the breakdown of trust in public health information during the Covid-19 pandemic. The field of science and technology studies lays out the dynamic nature of facts, helping to explain rapid shifts in public health messaging during Covid-19 and reasons they produced a lack of trust in public health authorities. The information field looks at how facts are sociotechnically constructed through systems of classification, illustrating how extrascientific factors influence public health authorities.

Older Adults' Trust and Distrust in COVID-19 Public Health Information: Qualitative Critical Incident Study.

Background: The COVID-19 infodemic has imposed a disproportionate burden on older adults who face increased challenges in accessing and assessing public health information, but little is known about factors influencing older adults' trust in public health information during COVID-19.

Objective: This study aims to identify sources that older adults turn to for trusted COVID-19 public health information and factors that influence their trust. In addition, we explore the relationship between public health information sources and trust factors.

Misinformation and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

Background: COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy has emerged as a major public health challenge. Although medical and scientific misinformation has been known to fuel vaccine hesitancy in the past, misinformation surrounding COVID-19 seems to be rampant, and increasing evidence suggests that it is contributing to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy today. The relationship between misinformation and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is complex, however, and it is relatively understudied.

Trust in COVID-19 public health information.

Understanding the factors that influence trust in public health information is critical for designing successful public health campaigns during pandemics such as COVID-19. We present findings from a cross-sectional survey of 454 US adults-243 older (65+) and 211 younger (18-64) adults-who responded to questionnaires on human values, trust in COVID-19 information sources, attention to information quality, self-efficacy, and factual knowledge about COVID-19. Path analysis showed that trust in direct personal contacts ( = 0.

The use of ICT during COVID-19.

ICTs are pivotal in the existing social order and especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic. This panel focuses on the use of ICTs by different actors, including individuals, nonprofit organizations, and governments around the globe in responding to this COVID crisis. We tackle three essential questions about ICTs and the global crisis.

Global health crises are also information crises: A call to action.

In this opinion paper, we argue that global health crises are also crises. Using as an example the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic, we (a) examine challenges associated with what we term "global crises"; (b) recommend changes needed for the field of information science to play a leading role in such crises; and (c) propose actionable items for short- and long-term research, education, and practice in information science.

Rural Dementia Caregivers in Southwest Texas: An Exploratory Study of Advance Directives and End-of-Life Proxy Decision Making.

For a growing number of persons with dementia (PWDs), advance care planning (ACP) can help families make important end-of-life (EOL) care decisions that reflect PWDs' values and preferences. The current exploratory study aimed to understand advance directive planning and decision making among PWDs and caregivers. A survey was conducted with a convenience sample of 47 ethnically diverse PWD caregivers recruited from rural health care facilities in Southwest Texas.

Mobile Health, Information Preferences, and Surrogate Decision-Making Preferences of Family Caregivers of People With Dementia in Rural Hispanic Communities: Cross-Sectional Questionnaire Study.

Background: Mobile health (mHealth) technology holds promise for promoting health education and reducing health disparities and inequalities in underserved populations. However, little research has been done to develop mHealth interventions for family caregivers of people with dementia, particularly those in rural Hispanic communities, who often serve as surrogate decision makers for their relatives with dementia.

Objective: As part of a larger project to develop and test a novel, affordable, and easy-to-use mHealth intervention to deliver individually tailored materials in rural Hispanic communities, in this pilot study, we aimed to examine (1) characteristics of people with dementia and their family caregivers in rural Hispanic communities, (2) caregivers' preferences for types and amounts of health information and participation in surrogate decision making, and (3) caregivers' mobile device usage and their desire for receiving information via mobile devices.

End-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with advanced dementia: A literature review of decision aids.

Objectives: To investigate existing knowledge in the literature about end-of-life decision making by family caregivers of persons with dementia, focusing on decision aids for caregivers of persons with advanced dementia, and to identify gaps in the literature that can guide future research.

Methods: A literature review through systematic searches in PubMed, CINAHL Plus with Full Text, and PsycINFO was conducted in February 2018; publications with full text in English and published in the past 10 years were selected in multiple steps.

Results: The final sample included five decision aids with predominantly Caucasian participants; three of them had control groups, and three used audiovisual technology in presenting the intervention materials.

Community response grids: using information technology to help communities respond to bioterror emergencies.

Access to accurate and trusted information is vital in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from an emergency. To facilitate response in large-scale emergency situations, Community Response Grids (CRGs) integrate Internet and mobile technologies to enable residents to report information, professional emergency responders to disseminate instructions, and residents to assist one another. CRGs use technology to help residents and professional emergency responders to work together in community response to emergencies, including bioterrorism events.