Development and Effects of a Brief Podcast to Increase Critical Thinking About Health

Making decisions about health and treatments is a universal human experience. However, most people are not equipped with the critical thinking skills needed to make informed and empowered health choices. It is, therefore, imperative to identify effective strategies to increase the public’s ability to think critically about health and treatments. Accordingly, we developed and tested the effects of a brief, story-based critical thinking podcast called Parents Making Informed Health Choices. Parents (N=250) were randomly assigned to listen to the experimental critical thinking podcast (n=128) or a control podcast (n=122). The experimental podcast covered nine evidence-based practice principles, and included scenarios about physical and behavioral health. We found that, relative to the control podcast, listening to the Parents Making Informed Health Choices Podcast improved parent critical thinking about health, and also had a positive effect on critical thinking-related intended behaviors, evidence-based practice attitudes, and treatment preferences. Findings provide initial support for the efficacy of a brief podcast intervention to improve the public’s critical thinking about health in the United States.