Development and Pilot Test of an Edutainment-Based Curriculum for Addressing Misinformation in the Healthcare Setting

Infectious disease-related mis- and disinformation (IDRMD) can impact health behavior. Motivational interviewing (MI) is an evidence-based approach for healthcare practitioners to engage with patients who express IDRMD. We developed and pilot tested a workshop-style curriculum for physician assistant (PA) students using an edutainment approach that included (1) a didactic session around identifying IDRMD and an MI approach, (2) viewing television clips from <i>ER</i> and <i>Chicago Med</i> where patients express IDRMD, and (3) rewriting scripts from each clip using an MI approach. We evaluated the curriculum with pre- and post-curricular surveys (response rate 97%, <i>n</i> = 35). Most participants identified as female (80%, <i>n</i> = 28) and White (94%, <i>n</i> = 33). After curriculum implementation, participants demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to identify IDRMD and comfort using an MI approach with patients who express IDRMD (<i>p</i> = .04 and <i>p</i> < .001, respectively). Six themes emerged from qualitative analysis of responses to an open-ended item assessing anticipated behavior change with patients, with almost half (49%, <i>n</i> = 17) mentioning engaging with patients with empathy, a core tenant of an MI approach. An edutainment-based curriculum, which is scalable and adaptable for other health science students, may be efficacious at improving PA students' ability to use an MI approach when patients express IDRMD.