The Effects of a Short Video Intervention on Critically Appraising Online Health Information

We will test the following research questions: Can we improve health literacy skills and knowledge using an intervention informed by psychology and communication theory to improve critical appraisal of online information? Is the delivery method of information going to affect knowledge outcomes? If so, which delivery method is most effective? This study is a survey which will be conducted online through the Qualtrics platform. We will recruit an online sample stratified by high and low education via Qualtrics. Eligible panel members will be invited to participate. This will include any adults aged 18-39, with quota sampling based on gender and education groups. Participants will read the participant information sheet and click a button to indicate consent to participate. They will complete a 10-minute online survey including baseline measures, viewing one of the three health literacy interventions or no intervention (control), and completing outcome measures. This will be a four-arm randomised-control trial among Australian adults 18-39 years. The participants will be randomly allocated to receive the health literacy information via either one of the three interventions: 1) written text information, 2) animated videos, 3) TikTok-style videos, or they will be assigned to the control group. 1) Written text condition: The text condition for critically appraising online health information was based on various critical appraisal tools including the "Trust it or Trash it?" method (“Trust it or trash it?” http://www.trustortrash.org/). The text focuses on a tool called WHO-WHEN-WHY which was developed by the researchers. This is a critical appraisal tool that can be used as a practical guide to assess the quality of online health information. To address the general education levels of the sample, relevant written information was run through the SHeLL editor (https://shell.techlab.works/ ), a tool that identifies issues like complex language and long sentences and suggests alternatives to improve understandability. Participants will be required to spend at least 3 minutes reading the information. 2) Animation Two animated videos for the interventions are based on the WHO-WHEN-WHY model above. These videos are both 2 minutes long. These videos were commissioned online using the services of a professional animation film making freelancer. All members of the research team were involved in the production of these videos, including providing feedback to the animator and refining the script to suit the format of the video. 3) Tiktok conditions: The videos for the interventions are based on the WHO-WHEN-WHY model above. Two videos were created by a health communicator to model the Tiktok format of videos. These videos are both 2 minutes long.