Informing infodemic management capacity building by piloting an adaptable capability tool

Abstract Background Infodemic management competencies and indicators have been included in key WHO pandemic preparedness documents and guidance such as the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative, the Health Emergency preparedness and response (HEPR) framework and in the WHO benchmarks for strengthening health emergency capacities. Training and capacity building is needed to strengthen infodemic management skills and capacity, and a tool to define capabilities and inform training needs was needed. Objectives An adaptable tool was developed and piloted to measure infodemic management capacity to inform training and capacity building needs. The tool was informed by previous work and adapted to cover a wide set of capabilities. It was piloted in March - May 2024. Results The tool was developed to cover the breadth of infodemic management work practice and structural support and included: who is conducting infodemic management work; structures in place to support; main activities; health topics focus areas; partnerships with other organisations; social listening and infodemic insights generation; as well as challenges, opportunities and training needs. The tool can be adapted to the specific situation, with a full survey able to be disseminated via an online survey platform as well as a modified interview guide for key informants or settings where that is more appropriate. Conclusions Preliminary results show that this tool can be a useful way to measure infodemic management competencies and to inform training and capacity building needs. The ability to adapt to specific settings is important to ensure the results are as useful and tailored as possible. As further testing in different setting continues the tool will continue to be iterated upon. Key messages • Infodemic management is an important component of pandemic preparedness and resilience and across the whole emergency response cycle. • A new adaptable tool to measure capabilities can help inform infodemic management trainings and capacity building.