Information Chaos: An Adapted Framework Describing Citizens’ Experiences with Information During COVID-19

Abstract

With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, clinicians, public officials, and citizens alike struggled to stay abreast of the constant and evolving stream of information about the clinical manifestations of illness, epidemiology of the disease, and the public health response. In this paper, we adapted (i.e., added and modified elements) Beasley and colleagues’ information chaos framework to understand the context of citizens’ experiences with information during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will show how our adapted framework can be used to characterize information associated challenges observed during this time and the possible impact of information chaos on peoples’ cognition and behaviours. Ultimately, we believe that research will benefit by adopting a more holistic perspective using the information chaos framework than strictly studying the independent factors in isolation.

Patient Perceptions of Treatment and Diagnostic Process During the COVID-19 Pandemic Within the Context of Limitations that Impeded Communication with Healthcare Professionals

“…Regarding chaotic information, it should be noted that due to living in the information era, people process an excessive amount of data every day. However, when the amount of data exceeds our processing capacity, we experience “information overload” [ 38 ]. This information overload can have negative impacts on population health outcomes [ 39 ] and during the pandemic period people struggled with the constant and ever-evolving stream of information related to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the often-inconsistent media reports and statements from experts [ 40 ].…”

Navigating health information chaos: Perspectives from Persian-speaking immigrants in Finland

“…Framework's focus on information overload and its influence on decision-making and situational awareness of healthcare providers [46,48] sheds light on how this phenomenon can similarly impact immigrants' ability to assess and adopt accurate health information. The research highlights the importance of reliable and accurate health information in promoting behaviour modification among Persian-speaking immigrants in Finland.…”

“…The goal was to understand their perceptions of health information chaos during a public health crisis. The interview guide was designed based on the Information Chaos Framework [46] and recent studies [47,48] (see Figure 1). The participants' sources of health information, their evaluation methods, and the perceived reliability and accuracy of the information were the key aspects explored.…”

“…The framework highlights the potential dangers of information overload, scatter, underload, conflict, and erroneous information. The detrimental effects of these aspects of information chaos are observed in the quality of care delivered by primary care physicians (PCPs) [46][47][48]. The Information Chaos Framework, while crucial to understanding the influence of information management on healthcare delivery, lacks a comprehensive relationship with other theories of information seeking.…”

“…Additionally, the origins of the Information Chaos Framework in clinical settings as opposed to health information environment settings need further elucidation for better application in healthcare contexts. The framework also takes into account the impact of mental workload and interruptions on PCPs' situational awareness, decision-making, and overall performance [46,48]. The framework suggests practise redesigns and team communication to reduce information chaos and enhance situational awareness during all phases of the patient visit [46].…”