Do people trust governmental health information and how does that impact disseminating health recommendations?

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has historically benefited from high levels of public trust. However, the perceived trust of the CDC, the local, state, and federal government and its health information can be called into question. The purpose of this presentation is to better understand the degree to which people trust the local, state, and federal government and its health information, how views have changed over time, and what this may mean for governmental institutions at all levels that disseminate health information.

Methods: The data presented comes from a review of publicly available data and original research related to trust in local, state, and the federal government. The data on state and local governments comes from Gallup polls from 2002 to 2018. The data on the federal government include opinion polls compiled by the Pew Research Center includes data from the National Election Study, Pew Research Center, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, ABC, and CNN from 1958 to 2017. Data about trust in governmental health information comes from the 2008 to 2017 nationally representative National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). Data on the relationship between trust in local, state, and federal government health information and willingness to follow health recommendations come from a cross-sectional study of college students (N=253) conducted in 2014. Descriptive analyses were conducted on relevant variables across datasets. Descriptive statistics were grouped thematically to explore trust in government. A linear regression was performed on the cross-sectional data set.

Results: Trust in the federal government has declined since the 1960s. Confidence in local and state government remains steady and high when compared to the federal government. According to the HINTS data, health information from government health agencies is the second most trusted source of health information only after health information from a doctor. According to the HINTS data, the percentage of people who do not trust governmental health information (24%) is almost five times higher than the percent who do not trust health information from a doctor (5%). Trust in governmental health information varies by several demographic variables such as age, sexual orientation, and rural vs. urban residence. In the cross-sectional study, as a participant’s perceived trust of government health information increased, so did willingness to comply with governmental health recommendations. Predictors of willingness to comply with governmental health recommendations included concern an outbreak would occur, perceived trust in governmental health information, and willingness to comply with governmental health recommendations to prevent STDs.

Conclusions: Despite the decline in trust of the federal government from the 1960s to present day, trust in governmental health information has remained steady and is second only to the health information received from a doctor. Although government health agencies are the second most trusted source of health information, a 20% gap exists between the public’s trust of government health information and trust in health information from a medical professional.

Implications for research and/or practice: To improve delivery of health information messages, health communicators may benefit from monitoring their target audiences’ trust in information sources.