Internal Report: First WHO Infodemic Manager Training: Evaluation of the Design and Implementation of a Global Copresence-Based Training to Strengthen COVID-19 Infodemic Response in Countries

Executive Summary

In November 2021, 280 trainees from 78 countries participated remotely in the First Global Infodemic Manager Training. The training was a partnership between WHO, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and RCCE collective service. First Draft provided logistical support and additional expertise in misinformation management.

The intent of the First IM training was to cover a spectrum of topics and skills needed by managers tasked with designing interventions to promote community resilience to infodemics (including misinformation, disinformation, and information overload), to share best practices for promoting self-efficacy regarding protective health behaviours and develop a roster of Infodemic managers for WHO deployment in the field. The training encompassed both global and region-specific topics in the infodemic and health misinformation.

The training design, developed by Tina Purnat of WHO and Elisabeth Wilhelm of CDC, was heavily influenced by recent research in the fields of human centred and emotional design. Throughout, it emphasised the importance of being attuned to differing global communication strategies, deemphasised professional hierarchies, encouraged a “faster is better” approach to addressing challenges, and rewarded strong collaborative efforts. The training required participants to meet two times per week for four weeks, usually for sessions of between 4-4.5 hours. To accommodate a global trainee cohort, sessions were offered during two different times. Each session mixed live lectures from subject matter experts (covering theories and tools of infodemic management), Q and A sessions, and participant breakout sessions over Zoom, facilitated by Purnat and Wilhelm. Participants were exposed to global case studies in the form of pre-recorded videos delivered from the field. A large component of the training required participants to work remotely in small groups (intentionally scattered across time zones) on the Elnor Simulation: a charge to develop recommendation for infodemic response at the request of health authorities in the fictional nation of Elnor.
To receive a certificate of participation at the end of the course, trainees were expected to: (1) be present in 80% of sessions, either live, or by watching the recorded sessions in the Learning Management System; (2) actively participate in group work on WhatsApp/WeChat, managing an infodemic response simulation in the fantasy land of “Elnor”, and (2) prepare a final intervention/strategy pitch to manage the infodemic in Elnor, to be delivered live in class during the final session of training. To receive a certificate of training at the end of the course, and therefore become a candidate for the WHO roster of infodemic managers, trainees needed to complete the above, pass three quizzes, and submit a short (four minutes max) video reflecting on their original application video, and discussing how they might answer their original question, given what they’ve learned.

Evaluation of the training involved a pre training survey documenting trainees’ previous engagement and comfort with infodemic management, and post-training interviews and focus groups with students, as well as interviews with instructors and feedback from observers on the content, structure and delivery of the training. Evaluation responses covered course content (including speakers and lessons, recorded case studies and quizzes); participants in the cohort, the hosts, the Elnor simulation, course logistics, communication, and alumni features.

As part of the evaluation process, there were several suggestions made for any future versions of the course. Some were related to the framing of the training, others were related to the content (lectures and skills lessons), some related to logistics and the LMS, some connected to the Elnor simulation, and some related to alumni networking.