Community Health Information Education Forum (CHIEF)

PROJECT SUMMARY False information can fuel distrust, hinder health literacy, and negatively impact public health responses, as demonstrated during the pandemic. Yet health misinformation is epidemic, augmented by use of artificial intelligence and social media. Misinformation increases health disparities and erodes trust in science,

especially in marginalized communities. To address this misinformation epidemic, we will use a strategy is to leverage community-based networks to promote health, as trusted local influencers can disseminate accurate health information that not only reaches its target audience but also is accepted by community members. Thus,

we hypothesize that trusted community influencers can promote scientifically sound, specifically tailored health information in marginalized communities, and that involving students will make this effort sustainable. Accordingly, Mount Sinai researchers partnered with the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (AAIUH) to

create the Community Health Information and Education Forum (CHIEF), a collective of researchers, community leaders, and students who use community-based participatory research to address health disparities in Brooklyn in New York City. Through pilot funding, CHIEF has generated preliminary data and

assessed key needs in this target community. To respond to these needs, CHIEF will create a technology platform to help community influencers spread scientifically sound information to Brooklyn residents, most of whom are of African American and Afro-Caribbean descent. The technology platform will have two

components: a Message Mapping Dashboard, which will provide a cockpit for members of community-based organizations to create, deploy, and measure health information campaigns; and a Mobile Health Bulletin Board, a smartphone app especially designed for barbers and stylists, who are known influencers in

communities of color. The app will give these community influencers easy access to understandable, reliable, and timely health infographics they can share with clients. Health messages for the dashboard and the mobile app will be created by MPH and MD/MPH students taking graduate courses in health literacy and vetted by

faculty experts. Students participating in these programs will receive mentorship and training in health communication and will have the opportunity to leverage CHIEF for research projects. Students also will present at the Health Sciences Academy, an enrichment program for underrepresented minority high school

students, to expose these students to relevant issues as well as potential careers in public health research. By applying principles of implementation science, CHIEF will be sustainable beyond the life of this grant by creating an enduring technology platform that can be adapted by other marginalized communities. We expect

that this project will have measurable impact by focusing on trusted community resources to reach disadvantaged populations, helping prevent spread of health misinformation in at-risk communities, promoting equitable health, and enhance diversity and inclusion in public health professions.