The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial

Background Social media has transformed health communication and has an increasing influence on public health communication. There are growing concerns about how people find good quality health information online, and their ability to use, understand and appraise it. This skill or practice has been...

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Main Authors: Diana Vassilenko, Melody Taba, Lucia Marcello, Tara Haynes, Jenna Smith, Jessica Stokes-Parish, Claire Hudson, Kirsten McCaffery
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Health Literacy and Communication Open
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28355245.2025.2489723
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author Diana Vassilenko
Melody Taba
Lucia Marcello
Tara Haynes
Jenna Smith
Jessica Stokes-Parish
Claire Hudson
Kirsten McCaffery
author_facet Diana Vassilenko
Melody Taba
Lucia Marcello
Tara Haynes
Jenna Smith
Jessica Stokes-Parish
Claire Hudson
Kirsten McCaffery
author_sort Diana Vassilenko
collection DOAJ
description Background Social media has transformed health communication and has an increasing influence on public health communication. There are growing concerns about how people find good quality health information online, and their ability to use, understand and appraise it. This skill or practice has been termed digital health literacy or eHealth Literacy.Methods Participants (N = 2120) will be randomly allocated to receive the eHealth literacy intervention via one of the three intervention modality groups: (1) a short animated video, (2) a TikTok-style short video, (3) written-text, or a control group who received a separate, unrelated healthy eating factsheet from the Australian government.Results Outcomes include critical evaluation skills of online health information (primary) and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) (secondary). Statistical analysis will be conducted using planned contrasts between the three intervention groups and the control group, using appropriate regression models.Discussion This trial will identify whether a brief online digital health literacy intervention can improve critical evaluation skills and eHealth literacy, and the impact of the intervention modality.Trial registration number This trial has been registered with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (trial number: ACTRN12623001229662).
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spelling doaj-art-5dccdd8cc43a4215912f5b43405acb4d2025-08-20T02:17:34ZengTaylor & Francis GroupHealth Literacy and Communication Open2835-52452025-12-013110.1080/28355245.2025.2489723The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trialDiana Vassilenko0Melody Taba1Lucia Marcello2Tara Haynes3Jenna Smith4Jessica Stokes-Parish5Claire Hudson6Kirsten McCaffery7Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaBond University Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Gold Coast, QLD, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Public Health, Sydney Health Literacy Lab, The University of Sydney, NSW, AustraliaBackground Social media has transformed health communication and has an increasing influence on public health communication. There are growing concerns about how people find good quality health information online, and their ability to use, understand and appraise it. This skill or practice has been termed digital health literacy or eHealth Literacy.Methods Participants (N = 2120) will be randomly allocated to receive the eHealth literacy intervention via one of the three intervention modality groups: (1) a short animated video, (2) a TikTok-style short video, (3) written-text, or a control group who received a separate, unrelated healthy eating factsheet from the Australian government.Results Outcomes include critical evaluation skills of online health information (primary) and the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS) (secondary). Statistical analysis will be conducted using planned contrasts between the three intervention groups and the control group, using appropriate regression models.Discussion This trial will identify whether a brief online digital health literacy intervention can improve critical evaluation skills and eHealth literacy, and the impact of the intervention modality.Trial registration number This trial has been registered with the Australia New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (trial number: ACTRN12623001229662).https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28355245.2025.2489723e-health literacydigital health literacyhealth educationsocial mediamisinformationcritical health literacy
spellingShingle Diana Vassilenko
Melody Taba
Lucia Marcello
Tara Haynes
Jenna Smith
Jessica Stokes-Parish
Claire Hudson
Kirsten McCaffery
The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
Health Literacy and Communication Open
e-health literacy
digital health literacy
health education
social media
misinformation
critical health literacy
title The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
title_full The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
title_fullStr The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
title_full_unstemmed The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
title_short The effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills: Protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
title_sort effects of a short video intervention on digital health literacy skills protocol for an online randomised controlled trial
topic e-health literacy
digital health literacy
health education
social media
misinformation
critical health literacy
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28355245.2025.2489723
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