A recent poll of 3,343 US adults conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the de Beaumont Foundation has revealed concerns about eroding trust in public health recommendations amidst changes in federal leadership.
The survey found that 4 in 10 adults (44%) believe new leaders will make them trust their health recommendations less than they used to, with 30% saying “a lot less.” However, 28% of respondents expect the changes to lend credence to the recommendations, with 18% saying “a little more” and 10% indicating “a lot more.”
Partisan differences were stark, with 76% of Democrats predicting a loss of trust and 57% of Republicans expecting to gain confidence. The CDC is expected to function better for 80% of Republicans but less effectively for 83% of Democrats.
Concerns about the CDC’s effectiveness include the fear that health recommendations will be influenced by politics (76%), corporations (68%), or unproven science (63%). Other worries include a lack of attention on health disparities between rich and poor people (64%) and racial minority groups (61%).
The survey lead, Gillian SteelFisher, PhD, notes that “new fault lines are emerging in trust for public health agencies.” To grow trust, leaders must demonstrate more effort to sustain public health capacity than what has been seen so far.
Source: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/americans-losing-trust-after-public-health-leadership-shakeups