One of the battles that policy makers and governments face during the time of the coronavirus is maintaining trust in the institutions providing healthcare information. This is necessary to battle the level of misinformation out there.
Unfortunately, the levels of trust are declining in some regions of the world. This is not a one-way process, and health institutions also need to demonstrate competency in relation to the public.
This is achieved by access to public services, regardless of socio-economic status; maintaining quality; ensuring timeliness of public services; providing respect for public service provision, including responsiveness to citizens’ feedback.
In the U.S., as an example, with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines being updated, public perception is changing According to a Realtime Research survey by Invisibly that polled 1277 people, public sentiment on the trustworthiness of the CDC has changed.
This poll showed that 33 percent of people think the information given by the CDC is completely untrustworthy compared to 23 percent in July 2020, and only a slight majority of respondents think the CDC is trustworthy. This despite the Agency providing science-based, and evidence-based advice. The latest data shows the extent of misinformation in society.
In terms of demographics, the research found that 18-24 years old were most likely to trust CDC guidelines, at a level of 58 percent. The level of trust in the service declines among older members of society.
In terms of gender, the findings indicate that 50 percent of women trust the CDC, compared to 38 percent of men and 22 percent of non-binary respondents.
Also called into question is lockdown easing, which while not directly related to the CDC it is something that is perceived as part and parcel of health measures. With this, 28 percent of people currently believe their state’s reopening is going too slow, compared to 23 percent who think it’s moving too fast. In contrast, 29 percent are happy with the progress.
These figures are obviously concerning for public health advocates and where a lack of trust leads to inappropriate behavours or actions, then this makes the challenge of combatting the pandemic harder.
Moreover, such data is important since understanding, protection and recovery of trust in health care systems, not only for the effective functioning of health care systems but also for society in general.
One thing health institutions need to focus on is transparency. Simply repeating the “led by the science” rhetoric without providing data can lead to concerns with the lack of transparency. For example, who exactly is providing this advice and how independent is it? As the UK Academy of Medical Sciences stated in a report: “openness in decision-making processes to allow wider society to judge whether decisions are made based on sufficiently robust
