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 ER and Chicago Med 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%, n = 35). Most participants identified as female (80%, n = 28) and White (94%, n = 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 (p = .04 and p < .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%, n = 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.