IFPHOR0207 Applying the Ottawa Charter to Misinformation Mitigation: Lessons from Health Promotion Practice

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, interest in misinformation and its impact on public health has grown significantly. The health information space is becoming increasingly complex. Despite acknowledgement of the complexity, much of the existing research and approaches conceptualise the problem as a misinformation and information delivery issue and focus on this in isolation. This can lead to a focus primarily on individual-level experiences. While these are useful initiatives, failing to address the wider information environment and its structural, commercial and social determinants can risk widening existing health inequities and further disenfranchising communities.The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion is a foundational document adopted at the first International Conference on Health Promotion in Canada in 1986. It outlines five action areas to improve health and wellbeing: build healthy public policy; create supportive environments; strengthen community actions; develop personal skills; and reorient health services. Now in its 40th year, the Charter continues to provide a relevant framework for health, supporting initiatives to look broadly and plan comprehensive responses to complex health challenges.Using the Ottawa Charter as a framework and drawing on other complex public health challenges such as tobacco control, we discuss the application and relevance of the Ottawa Charter to one of the most defining and debated public health issues in the last 10 years, the impact of misinformation and disinformation on health. We outline why the information environment itself should be considered a determinant of health and what lessons from health promotion can be translated across disciplines.