Celia Díaz
Permanent professor at the TRANSOC Institute of the Complutense University of Madrid
This study is based on an opinion poll with a nationally representative sample. The data has been weighted to take into account key demographic variables. An analysis by subgroups is presented, comparing groups according to their political alignment with the Republican and Democratic parties. Although this alignment is a significant confounding factor, other factors have not been adjusted for in the analysis, such as previous levels of trust, educational level, gender, age, whether or not respondents have children, quality of health insurance, or media exposure.
The study shows that trust in health institutions at three levels of government is largely related to political affiliation. This can lead to some health alerts being modulated by the effect of the political party issuing them, giving rise to major population health risks. This politicization of public health in the US is in line with other research.
One noteworthy finding is that there are health issues that enjoy broad bipartisan support, such as chronic disease prevention, water safety, and reducing maternal and infant mortality. These should therefore be used as a basis for restoring public trust. On the other hand, some of the issues that those who believe that the new government will improve their trust in health institutions think will work best are related to resource efficiency and reducing political and corporate influence.
This work highlights the strong politicization of trust in public health institutions in the US. It provides other countries with some clues as to how to emphasize communication related to public health, promoting transparency in important decision-making.