Breast Cancer Coalition Announces Webinar with Acclaimed Health Care Journalist Gary Schwitzer
Rochester, NY – Each month, the Breast Cancer Coalition hosts a webinar as part of the organization’s Evening Education Webinar Series. Focusing on a variety of topics related to health and wellness, the webinars are free and open to the public. On Wednesday, February 25, at 7:00 PM, join highly acclaimed health care journalist and founder of HealthNewsReview.org, Gary Schwitzer, for an important presentation on how to review health care headlines in the age of social media and mis- and disinformation.
Health care news is consistently available on social media, TV, websites and more. Some of it is helpful, but some of it can be confusing or misleading. When dealing with cancer, it can be especially hard to know what health information to trust, and the dangers of misinformation for those with a cancer diagnosis can be especially harmful.
“On health care topics, social media have become a double-edged sword,” says Schwitzer. “The amount of dangerous mis- or disinformation is astounding. But there are excellent evidence-based sources on social media as well, and I’ll share some.”
During the presentation, Schwitzer will also point out common warning signs in misleading health stories, share tools for checking health articles and social media posts, and talk about how false or confusing information can affect medical decisions.
Schwitzer will also discuss liquid biopsies as they relate to early detection in cancer. He explains, “A longtime irritation for me – unbalanced promotion of screening tests – is hot right now, with advertising on the Super Bowl demonstrating some of the problems, which I’ll discuss in my talk.”
The Evening Educational Webinar Series is generously supported by the Lee C. Rosenthal Memorial Education Fund. ASL interpretation will be provided during the webinar. The 90-minute session will include at least 30 minutes for questions at the end. Register today at https://bccr.org/evening-education-webinars/ and submit questions in advance to rachel@bccr.org.