Thinking critically about health claims
Resources that "work"
We are developing, testing, and scaling up the use of effective educational resources to enable people to think critically about health claims and make informed choices. We carry out fair comparisons (randomised trials) to make sure our resources are effective, and use context analyses and process evaluations to understand how we might better facilitate uptake of resources at a country level.
See our development and evaluation publications
“I learnt [from the IHC lessons] not to do things just because others are doing them. For example, if [my friend] tells me to use something because it worked for him, I would remember that just because it worked for him does not mean it will work the same for me. I will also think, what if it harms me instead of helping me?” (Teenage participant, Uganda)
Relevant and engaging
We employ a human-centred design approach to develop resources that are engaging, understandable and feasible to implement in a range of contexts.
Watch a short video about our design methods
[This is about] things we might actually use, instead of things we might use when we are all grown up. And by then we’ll forget. (Child participant, Norway)
Universal and adaptable
We initially created resources for low-income settings, where the need is greatest. However, teams in over 20 countries – including high and middle income settings – are translating and adapting these resources for use in their settings. Most teams are finding that except for language translation, the school resources can be used in their original form without major changes.
See how teams work with us.
What I learned in these lessons was helping me to know more, so I could go and teach others and I could stop them from doing things that they do without thinking first. (Teenage participant, Kenya)
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IHC learning resources are in the The eGranary Digital Library, an off-line information store that provides instant access to over 35 million digital resources for those lacking adequate Internet connections.