Table 3

Potential adverse and beneficial effects of the podcast

Potential adverse effects	Corresponding beneficial effects
Distrust of health professionals or conflict between participants and health professionals	Appropriate questioning of health professionals, better understanding and better healthcare.
Conflict between religious beliefs and scientific principles	Engagement of participants and others in discussion about religious beliefs and science.
More difficult decision-making about healthcare	More thoughtful and informed decisions about healthcare.
Nihilism or cynicism	Healthy scepticism and appreciation of science.
Anxiety or discomfort with uncertainty	Understanding and acceptance of uncertainty.
Other potential beneficial effects
Impacts on children or others	The podcast might indirectly improve children’s understanding and ability to apply the concepts being learnt by the parents or the podcast might be shared with others in the household or other contacts of the study participants.
Awareness of the basis for claims about treatment effects	Participants becoming more aware and thinking critically about the basis for claims about treatment effects.
Attitudes and behaviours towards evidence of treatment effects	Participants desiring and asking for evidence supporting claims about treatment effects.
Awareness, attitudes and behaviours in relation to other types of causal claims	Participants becoming more aware and thinking critically about the basis for causal claims not related to treatments, and desiring and asking for evidence supporting those claims.
Questioning more	Participants asking more questions and not taking things for granted.
Engagement in informed discussions about policies	Participants becoming more engaged in discussions about health policies, and desiring and asking for evidence supporting claims about health policies.
Impacts on other types of decisions	Participants making more thoughtful and informed decisions about interventions or activities that are not related to health.