ABIM Foundation Makes $110K Available to Combat Medical Misinformation
December 16, 2021
Effort seeks projects that can help identify and counter misinformation in health care
The ABIM Foundation announced the availability of grants totaling $110,000 aimed at building trust in the U.S. health care system by identifying and countering misinformation in health care and public health.
The grant program is open to anyone, and seeks examples of existing practices that are focused on ensuring accurate health care information delivery to the public, and mitigating the spread of misinformation. The ABIM Foundation is particularly interested in projects that aim to address the impact of misinformation on individuals from vulnerable populations.
“Over the years, trust between patients and health care systems has eroded for a variety of reasons. Not only has health care become impersonal, but every day we’re inundated with new information from a variety of sources, which isn’t always accurate or truthful,” said Richard J. Baron, MD, president and CEO of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation. “We hope this program will help ease this influx of medical misinformation, while also showcasing exemplary, replicable projects that provide accurate information and, ultimately, increase trust in health care.”
An independent panel of judges will select two winners, who will receive 2-year grants of $80,000 (first place) and $30,000 (second place). Judges include:
- Austin Chiang, MD, MPH – Chief Medical Officer, Medtronic; Assistance Professor of Medicine, Div. of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals; Director, Endoscopic Bariatric Therapy Program; Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals; Chief Medical Social Media Officer, Jefferson Health; President, Association for Healthcare Social Media
- Jackie Judd – Health care communications consultant
- Carmen Nobel – Program Director, The Journalist’s Resource at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy
- David Rousseau – Vice President and Executive Director of Health Policy Media and Technology, KFF; Publisher, Kaiser Health News
- David Scales, MPhil, MD, PhD – Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine; Chief Medical Officer, Critica
- Brian G. Southwell – Senior Director, Science in the Public Sphere, RTI International; Co-director, Duke Program on Medical Misinformation, Duke University
The first-place winner will have the opportunity to present at the 2022 ABIM Foundation Forum, which will be devoted to the topic of misinformation. The Forum brings together leaders from across health care and will take place next summer. Both winners, along with other finalists, will be showcased on the ABIM Foundation’s websites and social media platforms, as well as in webinars and newsletters.
Informational webinars will be held on January 11 at 1PM ET and January 19 at 3PM ET, and the submission deadline is February 15, 2022.
Learn more about the program and download the application.
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About the ABIM Foundation
The ABIM Foundation’s mission is to advance medical professionalism to improve the health care system by collaborating with physicians and physician leaders, medical trainees, health care delivery systems, payers, policymakers, consumer organizations and patients to foster a shared understanding of professionalism and how they can adopt the tenets of professionalism in practice. To learn more about the ABIM Foundation, visit www.abimfoundation.org, connect on Facebook or follow on Twitter.
