The application of Information Poverty Theory to health information and misinformation in the digital age

Purpose – The growing use and availability of advanced technologies have helped empower communities around health issues across the world. This review article focuses more specifically on health misinformation, paying particular attention to the interplay between a lack of adequate data for decision-making during health emergencies and the context of widespread uncertainty around the use and reliability of information from digital sources. Design/methodology/approach – The systematic review sampled the Scopus database to access articles using several literature searches. This qualitative review article adopts the Information Poverty Theory to understand better decision-making regarding the availability of health information by both communities and individuals. Findings – First, health emergencies result in uneven situations for some people and communities, as they are not active participants in the use of information technology. In many cases, this is not by choice but because of the situations in which they find themselves. Second, there are concerns about the lack of social integration with new technologies. We live in an unequal world, where the privileged have access to and use technology to access health-related information, whereas, for others, access and use are difficult or not an option at all. Originality – As digital health information distribution grows and as more data becomes available, society requires information that will assist them in responding to health emergencies and in becoming more knowledgeable about how to access such information. Policymakers within the healthcare sector and in governments need to learn the importance of increasing access to advanced information technologies as part of their approach to sharing health information, especially for those with poor or no access to information and communication infrastructure and to learn from recent failures and successes experienced.