Digital Health Literacy Education as an effort to prevent self-diagnosis at Insan Scholar Syech Yusuf High School, Pattalassang, Gowa Regency

UMI PKM Team Socializes the Dangers of Self-Diagnosis to Class XI Students in Gowa Regency

The Community Service Team (PKM) from the Indonesian Muslim University (UMI) chaired by Aulia Mahardhika and dr. Dhian, held Digital Health Literacy Education activities as an effort to prevent the rise of self-diagnosis behavior among teenagers. This activity took place at Insan Scholar Syech Yusuf High School, Pattalassang, Gowa Regency, and was attended by all class XI students.

In the current digital era, it is increasingly easy for students to access health information via social media or the internet. However, without good digital literacy skills, inaccurate information often leads to misunderstandings and even self-diagnoses that pose health risks. Based on these conditions, the UMI PKM team was present to provide comprehensive education regarding how to sort valid health information, the dangers of diagnosing disease yourself, and the importance of consulting with professional health workers.

The team leader, Aulia Mahardhika, explained that this activity was important to strengthen students' critical thinking patterns towards digital information. "Currently, health information is very easy to access, but not all of it is correct. Digital literacy is the first barrier so that students do not get trapped in self-diagnosis which can be detrimental to themselves," he said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Dhian gave a presentation regarding examples of cases of self-diagnosis among teenagers and the medical impacts that could result. He emphasized that health diagnoses must be carried out by experts who understand the patient's condition thoroughly. "Searching for information is good, but medical decisions should not only rely on internet content. Consultation with a doctor remains the main step," he explained.

The students seemed enthusiastic about participating in the question and answer session and interactive discussions. They were also given examples of how to check the credibility of health information sources on the internet and trained to distinguish between educational content and health hoaxes.

Principal Drs. Amiruddin expressed his appreciation and thanks to the UMI lecturer team. According to him, this PKM activity has a big impact on students. "The benefits are very big, because the effects of surfing on social media are very real among students. Many of them easily believe in health information whose truth is not certain. With education like this, we hope they can be wiser and more selective," he said.

This activity confirms UMI's commitment to making a real contribution to society through increasing healthy and responsible digital literacy. With this education, it is hoped that Insan Scholar Syech Yusuf High School students can become a generation that is smarter in using health information and avoids the risk of dangerous self-diagnosis.