Exploring the Impact of the Infodemic in Alaska: Interviews with COVID-19 Responders in 2024

The contents of this dataset include 20 cleaned, deidentified interview transcripts from the dissertation project titled: "Exploring the COVID-19 Infodemic in Alaska". The NSF grant # is 2309906. Interviews took place via Zoom between January and March 2024 and included participants from across Alaska. The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by an unprecedented infodemic, characterized by the proliferation of both accurate and misleading information. Efforts to better describe the impacts of misinformation during the pandemic can facilitate the development of tools and policies aimed at managing future infodemics. We aimed to investigate the infodemic experiences of COVID-19 responders and identify themes that cut across sectors. This study explored how the circulation of false, incomplete, and excessive information affected individuals responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, including healthcare providers, public health professionals, leadership, members of the media, K-12 school staff, tribal organizations, and others. Using a One Health framework to guide recruitment, we conducted 20 semi-structured interviews over video conference and analyzed them using mixed inductive/deductive thematic analysis. Our findings coalesced around three principal themes: misinformation management, misinformation impacts and lessons learned. Building trust, promoting equity, and ensuring adequate resources (such as staffing and time) stood out as critical components to successfully combating misinformation. Conversely, a lack of communication/collaboration and intense politicization of COVID-19 made the response exceedingly difficult. The infodemic had direct impacts on the community, professional practice across fields and mental and physical health, many of which will have a continued effect moving forward. The lessons learned from this study can be applied towards efforts to better prepare us for the next public health emergency by enabling a more informed and agile response.