9.J. Round table: Experiences on infodemic management in public health authorities in Europe and internationally

Abstract   The COVID-19 pandemic and current recovery efforts have been complicated by a parallel infodemic, an overwhelming amount of information, including mis- and disinformation, accompanying emergencies as individuals and communities struggle to separate scientific facts and guidance from manipulative, emotionally charged or inaccurate content. The infodemic has manifested itself in the rapid spread of questions, concerns and misinformation that can affect population attitudes and behavior harmful to health-from promoting stigma and discrediting science, to promoting alternative, non-recommended treatment and cures to politicizing public health programs and eroding trust in healthcare personnel and health system. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, major advances in the nascent field of infodemiology and the practice of infodemic management have been made, with over 80% of WHO Member States reporting in a pulse survey that they are tracking COVID-19 misinformation and doing infodemic management work. Infodemic management, analogous to epidemic management, is an evidence-based practice in detecting, characterising, responding and managing the infodemic and its harmful effects. It is a leading area of concern for Ministries of Health, who have established infodemic management teams and insights units to help inform programmatic and communications shifts in face of a constantly evolving infodemic. During the COVID-19 crisis and ensuing recovery efforts in face of competing health priorities, public health authorities have been challenged in the way they engage with the public. Advances in social media and media consumption that have eased information sharing between people and communities have also become areas for infodemic risk, such as closed messaging apps, minimally regulated social media platforms, a noisy media environment and under-resourced communications and community engagement functions of MoH and IPH staff who are not versed in technology. The Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) generates and supports their partners in the generation of evidence for research on health and well-being of populations impacted by COVID-19. It supports exchange of expertise across Europe in the area of infodemic management as well. This workshop aims to share the experiences with infodemic management during the pandemic and key learnings to take forward during recovery and future health systems strengthening and pandemic preparedness efforts. It will be organised as a round table, where speakers will present on how their health systems have built infodemic management capacity, what lessons they have learned and plan to apply to future efforts. Common themes from the participants will become a frame for the Q&A and for audience members to submit questions and their own lessons learned for discussion on these themes through an interactive interface. Key messages • Infodemic management is growing from nascent science into full-fledged and more integrated public health practice ripe for innovation and application to health topics beyond COVID-19. • Implementation science and evaluation of what works and doesn’t in infodemic management must be systematically used for preparedness and response and improvement of routine health service delivery. Speakers/Panellists Elena Petelos CSFM & HSR-PH Lab, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece Christina Leuker Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany Neville Calleja Department of Health Information and Research, University of Malta, Msida, Malta Cherstyn Hurley UK Health Security Agency, London, UK Stefan Mandić-Rajčević University of Belgrade, Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia


Background:
''J1'' is a preventative routine examination in Germany recommended for adolescents at the age of 12-14 years. In contrast to the well-established U1-U9 examinations for younger children, with participation rates above 90%, the attendance of the J1 examination is approximately only 40%. The most frequent reason for not attending J1 is the unawareness of this examination. ''Ticket to J1'' is an intervention including an information leaflet introduced in Bavaria in 2017 to inform adolescents about J1. The aims of the present analysis are to investigate (1) if the regional policy was effective in increasing the attendance in J1, (2) if the effects vary by family socioeconomic status (SES), and (3) which meso-level characteristics of the healthcare system correlate with attendance rates in J1.

Methods:
We used anonymised data of a large statutory health insurance in Germany for the timeframe of 2016-2018. To investigate the effect of the policy, a difference-in-differences design at the individual level was used. Assuming a parallel trend at the level of federal states, the likelihood of attendance in J1 of 13-and 14-year-olds was compared between Bavaria and other federal German states before and after policy introduction. All analyses were additionally stratified by SES.

Results:
The introduction of ''Ticket to J1'' increased participation in J1 by 1% after controlling for all confounders. Furthermore, the effect was stronger for children from families with lower SES (an increase of 5%). Density of pediatricians was positively significantly correlated with participation in J1. Discussion: Regional health policy intervention had a significant positive impact on attendance of J1 and appears to have the potential to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in healthcare utilization. Informing adolescents about J1 seems to increase the attendance, in particular for children from families with lower SES.
The COVID-19 pandemic and current recovery efforts have been complicated by a parallel infodemic, an overwhelming amount of information, including mis-and disinformation, accompanying emergencies as individuals and communities struggle to separate scientific facts and guidance from manipulative, emotionally charged or inaccurate content. The infodemic has manifested itself in the rapid spread of questions, concerns and misinformation that can affect population attitudes and behavior harmful to health-from promoting stigma and discrediting science, to promoting alternative, non-recommended treatment and cures to politicizing public health programs and eroding trust in healthcare personnel and health system. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, major advances in the nascent field of infodemiology and the practice of infodemic management have been made, with over 80% of WHO Member States reporting in a pulse survey that they are tracking COVID-19 misinformation and doing infodemic management work. Infodemic management, analogous to epidemic management, is an evidence-based practice in detecting, characterising, responding and managing the infodemic and its harmful effects. It is a leading area of concern for Ministries of Health, who have established infodemic management teams and insights units to help inform programmatic and communications shifts in face of a constantly evolving infodemic. During the COVID-19 crisis and ensuing recovery efforts in face of competing health priorities, public health authorities have been challenged in the way they engage with the public. Advances in social media and media consumption that have 15th European Public Health Conference 2022 eased information sharing between people and communities have also become areas for infodemic risk, such as closed messaging apps, minimally regulated social media platforms, a noisy media environment and under-resourced communications and community engagement functions of MoH and IPH staff who are not versed in technology. The Population Health Information Research Infrastructure (PHIRI) generates and supports their partners in the generation of evidence for research on health and well-being of populations impacted by COVID-19. It supports exchange of expertise across Europe in the area of infodemic management as well. This workshop aims to share the experiences with infodemic management during the pandemic and key learnings to take forward during recovery and future health systems strengthening and pandemic preparedness efforts. It will be organised as a round table, where speakers will present on how their health systems have built infodemic management capacity, what lessons they have learned and plan to apply to future efforts. Common themes from the participants will become a frame for the Q&A and for audience members to submit questions and their own lessons learned for discussion on these themes through an interactive interface.

Key messages:
Infodemic management is growing from nascent science into full-fledged and more integrated public health practice ripe for innovation and application to health topics beyond COVID-19. Implementation science and evaluation of what works and doesn't in infodemic management must be systematically used for preparedness and response and improvement of routine health service delivery.
Purpose: 'Beat the Street' is a community-wide intervention which aims to increase active travel by turning an area into a 6-week game.
Residents earn points and prizes by walking and cycling and tapping a smartcard on RFID readers called 'Beat Boxes' placed on lampposts at half-mile intervals. To-date, over 1 million people have taken part in the intervention, however, the impact of the program on adult active travel is yet to be explored.

Methods:
In Autumn 2019, Beat the Street was delivered throughout the London Borough of Hounslow. Prior, and immediately following the intervention, residents were invited to complete a self-report questionnaire (Sport England Active Lives Survey-SF) to assess changes in physical activity. Time-stamp data generated through Beat Box activity provided an objective measure of intervention engagement and a traffic survey camera was used to measure the number of cars travelling along 1 target road between 1-week pre-and 1-week postintervention.
Results: 28,219 people took part in the six-week game. Between preand post-intervention there was 7% decrease in adults reporting less than 30mins of activity per week and a 13% rise in adults reporting 150+ mins (n = 346, p < 0.01). Beat box data ascertained that 25% of total taps at all Beat Boxes were made between 08:00-08:59am and a further 28% were made between 3:00-3:59pm, typical travel to school/work periods. Further, traffic camera data showed that between the week before and week following Beat the Street, 1199 and 705 fewer cars and 130 and 36 fewer vans were observed travelling along Cambridge Road between 07:00-09:30am and 2:00-4:30pm, respectively.

Conclusions:
These data sources, in combination, suggest gamification may be an encouraging approach to increasing levels of active travel at a community-wide level. Key messages: Gamification based intervention increases physical activity. Gamification encourages active travel to school and work.
Abstract citation ID: ckac129.587 Quality changes of workplace health promotion in Austrian companies over time

Background:
Workplace health promotion (WHP) is effective when it is implemented in a high-quality and sustainable manner. Companies in the Austrian quality management system can apply for a WHP quality certificate every three years. More and more companies are integrating WHP into their regular operations. This work investigates the WHP quality system and how the companies develop over time.
Methods: WHP quality is measured using 15 holistic quality criteria, which are assessed by an external, independent institute. For the period 2014-2021, evaluations from n = 570 companies with two and from n = 278 companies over three measurement points in time are available (initial and renewal awards). The (potential) change of the WHP quality is examined with a