A Critical Health Literacy Podcast to Counter Health Misinformation at Scale: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Widespread misinformation and low critical health literacy pose major barriers to public health worldwide. Rapid, scalable interventions are urgently needed to strengthen the public’s ability to make informed health decisions.Objective: Informed by critical health literacy frameworks, we developed and tested a brief, story-based critical thinking podcast, Parents Making Informed Health Choices, designed to improve health literacy and decision-making among U.S. parents.Methods: In a two-arm randomized controlled trial (N=250) conducted with a diverse national sample of parents recruited online, participants were randomly assigned to listen to either the critical thinking podcast (n=128) or a control podcast (n=122). The experimental podcast delivered nine evidence-based practice principles embedded in relatable scenarios about mental and physical health. Primary outcomes included critical thinking about health claims, intended health behaviors, attitudes toward evidence-based mental health practices, and treatment preferences.Results: Compared to the control group, parents who listened to the critical thinking podcast demonstrated significantly improved critical thinking about health information (p<.001), more critical thinking–aligned intended behaviors (p<.01), stronger attitudes in favor of evidence-based mental health practices (p<.05), and more evidence-informed treatment preferences (p<.05).Conclusions: Findings suggest that a short, story-based podcast can meaningfully improve critical thinking about health among U.S. parents. Podcasts may offer a scalable, accessible public health tool to counter misinformation and enhance critical health literacy in online populations.Key Words: critical health literacy; evidence-based practice; health misinformation; digital health intervention; public health education; randomized controlled trial; parents