Background Social media has an influence on public health communication. There are growing concerns about digital health literacy, and how younger adults find good-quality health information online, and their ability to use and appraise it. Objective To test a digital health literacy intervention addressing critical appraisal of online health information for younger adults focused on three core elements: Who said it? When did they say it? Why did they say it? Design Participants were randomised to receive the intervention via one of three formats: (1) a short-animated video, (2) a TikTok-style short video, (3) literacy-sensitive written text, or (4) a control group. The primary outcomes were critical digital health literacy (critical DHL) and engagement. The secondary outcomes were digital health literacy (DHL) measured by eHEALS, acceptability, personal relevance, intentions to share and novelty. Participants Participants aged 18–39 were recruited via an online social research panel. Key Results The sample (n = 2124) included 54% women; 50% had no university qualifications and 30% reported inadequate health literacy. The critical DHL mean score was significantly higher across intervention arms compared to control: control 8.5 out of 19 (SD4.7); text 11.0 (SD4.5); animation 10.9 (SD4.6); TikTok 10.4 (SD4.7) (p < 0.001). Engagement showed no significant differences across arms. All intervention arms increased eHEALS scores compared to control (p < 0.001). Acceptability and intention to share were high across all interventions (scored > 16/21 and > 3/5, respectively). Text scored highest on personal relevance (p = 0.003) and animation scored highest in novelty (p = 0.054) compared to TikTok. There was an interaction effect with gender with TikTok and text intervention arms showing a greater impact on men than women compared to control (p = 0.010). Conclusions Brief, scalable social media–style interventions can support critical health literacy skills in younger people. Further research is needed to understand how different formats perform in real-world social media environments. Trial Registration Prospectively registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: trial number ACTRN12623001229662, trial registration date: 29/11/2023.

Croakey Health Media has launched an innovative concept to embed health journalism in research projects, reports Leanne Wells. "Embedding health

Flagship health report also shows vaccine rates for children are falling, prompting concern from experts * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australians with cancer are living longer than ever, a flagship health report has revealed, but falling childhood vaccination rates and increasing rates of measles, diphtheria and whooping cough have given experts cause for concern. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) biennial report card, released on Thursday, shows the five-year relative survival rate for people with cancer has increased from 50% to 72% in 30 years. Continue reading...

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