Abstract
My mixed-methods study examines the unregulated realm of “health & wellness advice” as it is disseminated, evaluated, and consumed by American practitioners and consumers. While the clinical treatment of illness is heavily regulated in the US, counseling geared toward the enhancement of health is regulated sparingly (increasingly by niche private agencies). Promoters of “wellness” or “health enhancement” can generally publish, educate, or sell protocols without exposure to clinical scrutiny. “Wellness” now represents a $4.2 trillion global industry, but social scientists have bet to interrogate how information and expertise are evaluated within it. This is a ripe landscape for examining the relationship between regulation and misinformation My project focuses on the proliferation of “detox dieting”; while “detoxes” and “cleanses,” are generally considered to be metabolic redundancies by mainstream medical experts, they remain popular in American markets. My project incorporates three methodologies: (1) A content analysis of bestselling detox guides (in order to evaluate the stylization of these protocols as they are disseminated); (2) An interview analysis of wellness practitioners and promoters at varying levels of expertise who participate in “detox discourse” on social media, and (3) A survey analysis of potential consumers of wellness information (evaluating how different kinds of messages, mediums, and expertise are interpreted by different kinds of consumers). The study synthesizes and evaluates the rules that appear to govern “good information” outside of traditional channels of expertise. Continued empirical work on this subject is crucial as researchers orient to the decision-making of increasingly regulation-wary, authority-wary publics.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2022 Special Focus—Democratic Disorder: Disinformation, the Media and Crisis in a Time of Change
KEYWORDS
Misinformation, Health, Public Health, Wellness, Expertise
