scholarly journals Trust in Institutions, Not in Political Leaders, Determines Covid-19 Public Health Compliance in Societies across the Globe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan Badman ◽  
Ace X. Wang ◽  
Martin Skrodzki ◽  
Hengchin Cho ◽  
David Aguilar-Lleyda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Social Trust ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Trust In Institutions ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
Public Health Institutions ◽  
Health Discourse

A core assumption often heard in public health discourse is that increasing trust in national political leaders is essential for securing public health compliance during crises like the Covid-19 pandemic (2019-ongoing). However, studies of national government trust typically are too coarse-grained to differentiate between the trust in institutions versus more interpersonal trust in political leaders. Here, we present multiscale trust measurements for twelve countries and territories across the West, Oceania and East Asia. These trust results are used to identify which specific domains of government and social trust were most crucial for securing public health compliance (frequency of mask wearing and social distancing), and understanding the reasons for following the health measures (belief in effectiveness of public health measures). Our cross-cultural survey-based analysis (12 countries/territories, N=3369 subjects) reveals that higher trust in national and local public health institutions were a universally consistent predictor of public health compliance, while trust in national political leaders was actually not predictive of compliance across cultures and geographical regions. Institutional trust was mediated by multiple types of transparency, including providing rationale, securing public feedback, and honestly expressing uncertainty. These measures of transparency in public health communications, in turn, influence the public’s compliance behavior and beliefs. In total, these results highlight the importance of distinguishing between components of government trust, to better understand which entities the public give the most attention to during crises. Our findings may contribute to better planning and improvement of society-level cooperation, especially under highly uncertain disaster contexts.

scholarly journals Supplementing SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance with PCR-based variant detection for real-time actionable information, the Netherlands, June to July 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (40) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Molenkamp ◽  
Ewout Fanoy ◽  
Leonie Derickx ◽  
Theun de Groot ◽  
Marcel Jonges ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Rapid Identification ◽  
Regional Hospital ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Routine Testing ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Variant Detection

We evaluated routine testing with SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant-specific RT-PCR in regional hospital laboratories in addition to centralised national genomic surveillance in the Netherlands during June and July 2021. The increase of the Delta variant detected by RT-PCR correlated well with data from genomic surveillance and was available ca 2 weeks earlier. This rapid identification of the relative abundance and increase of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern may have important benefits for implementation of local public health measures.

scholarly journals Words can hurt: how political communication can change the pace of an epidemic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Argentieri Mariani ◽  
Jessica Gagete-Miranda ◽  
Paula Rettl
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Disease Spread ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Levels Of Support ◽  
Different Levels ◽  
Rule Out

Compliance with mandated health measures has substantial effects on public health, particularly during epidemics. We analyze how political leaders influence such compliance by exploiting President Bolsonaro’s display of skepticism towards COVID-19 during pro-government demonstrations in Brazil. We compare trends of the disease spread around the demonstrations’ date in municipalities with different levels of support for the President. After the demonstrations, the disease spread faster in pro-Bolsonaro municipalities. The results are driven not only by people’s agglomerating during the demonstrations but also by lower compliance with social distancing. Finally, we rule out that pre-existing differences in health-related behavior explain the results.

scholarly journals Trust in science and experts during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Battiston ◽  
Ridhi Kashyap ◽  
Valentina Rotondi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Trust In Institutions ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
Over Time

Trust in science and experts is extremely important in times of epidemics to ensure compliance with public health measures. Yet little is known about how this trust evolves while an epidemic is underway. In this paper, we examine the dynamics of trust in science and experts in real-time as the high-impact epidemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19) unfolds in Italy, by drawing on digital trace data from Twitter and survey data collected online via Telegram and Facebook. Both Twitter and Telegram data point to initial increases in reliance on and information-seeking from scientists and health authorities with the diffusion of the disease. Consistent with these increases, using a separately fielded online survey we find that knowledge about health information linked to COVID-19 and support for containment measures was fairly widespread. Trust in science, relative to trust in institutions (e.g. local or national government), emerges as a consistent predictor of both knowledge and containment outcomes. However, over time and as the epidemic peaks, we detect a slowdown and turnaround in reliance and information-seeking from scientists and health authorities, which we interpret as signs of an erosion in trust. This is supported by a novel survey experiment, which finds that those holding incorrect beliefs about COVID-19 give no or lower importance to information about the virus when the source of such information is known to be scientific.

scholarly journals Trust in science and experts during the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pietro Battiston ◽  
Ridhi Kashyap ◽  
Valentina Rotondi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
High Impact ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Trust In Institutions ◽  
Containment Measures ◽  
Over Time

Trust in science and experts is extremely important in times of epidemics to ensure compliance with public health measures. Yet little is known about how this trust evolves while an epidemic is underway. In this paper, we examine the dynamics of trust in science and experts in real-time as the high-impact epidemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19) unfolds in Italy, by drawing on digital trace data from Twitter and survey data collected online via Telegram and Facebook. Both Twitter and Telegram data point to initial increases in reliance on and information-seeking from scientists and health authorities with the diffusion of the disease. Consistent with these increases, using a separately fielded online survey we find that knowledge about health information linked to COVID-19 and support for containment measures was fairly widespread. Trust in science, relative to trust in institutions (e.g. local or national government), emerges as a consistent predictor of both knowledge and containment outcomes. However, over time and as the epidemic peaks, we detect a slowdown and turnaround in reliance and information-seeking from scientists and health authorities, which we interpret as signs of an erosion in trust. This is supported by a novel survey experiment, which finds that those holding incorrect beliefs about COVID-19 give no or lower importance to information about the virus when the source of such information is known to be scientific.

Communications and Politics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua M. Sharfstein
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Political Judgment ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Public Health Officials ◽  
Centers For Disease Control

An effective communications approach starts with a basic dictum set forth by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: “Be first, be right, be credible.” Agencies must establish themselves as vital sources of accurate information to maintain the public’s trust. At the same time, public health officials must recognize that communications play out in the context of ideological debates, electoral rivalries, and other political considerations. During a public health crisis, this means that health officials often need to constructively engage political leaders in communications and management. Navigating these waters in the middle of a crisis can be treacherous. Figuring out the best way to engage elected leaders is a core aspect of political judgment.

Pandemic Disease, Public Health, and Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 796-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxwell Smith ◽  
Ross Upshur
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Scarce Resources ◽  
Ethical Frameworks ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conducting Research

Infectious disease pandemics raise significant and novel ethical challenges to the organization and practice of public health. This chapter provides an overview of the salient ethical issues involved in preparing for and responding to pandemic disease, including those arising from deploying restrictive public health measures to contain and curb the spread of disease (e.g., isolation and quarantine), setting priorities for the allocation of scarce resources, health care workers’ duty to care in the face of heightened risk of infection, conducting research during pandemics, and the global governance of preventing and responding to pandemic disease. It also outlines ethical guidance from prominent ethical frameworks that have been developed to address these ethical issues and concludes by discussing some pressing challenges that must be addressed if ethical reflection is to make a meaningful difference in pandemic preparedness and response.

Communicable and Other Infectious Diseases

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Frischhut
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ethical Perspective ◽  
Health Measures ◽  
Environment Agency ◽  
And Control

This chapter discusses the most important features of EU law on infectious diseases. Communicable diseases not only cross borders, they also often require measures that cross different areas of policy because of different vectors for disease transmission. The relevant EU law cannot be attributed to one sectoral policy only, and thus various EU agencies participate in protecting public health. The key agency is the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Other important agencies include the European Environment Agency; European Food Safety Authority; and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency. However, while integration at the EU level has facilitated protection of the public's health, it also has created potential conflicts among the different objectives of the European Union. The internal market promotes the free movement of products, but public health measures can require restrictions of trade. Other conflicts can arise if protective public health measures conflict with individual human rights. The chapter then considers risk assessment and the different tools of risk management used in dealing with the challenges of infectious diseases. It also turns to the external and ethical perspective and the role the European Union takes in global health.

scholarly journals From hostile worlds to multiple spheres: towards a normative pragmatics of justice for the Googlization of health

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamar Sharon
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Market Value ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Alternative Framework ◽  
Orders Of Worth ◽  
Public Health Institutions ◽  
Health Institutions ◽  
Normative Pragmatics ◽  
The Many ◽  
Critical Perspectives

AbstractThe datafication and digitalization of health and medicine has engendered a proliferation of new collaborations between public health institutions and data corporations like Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon. Critical perspectives on these new partnerships tend to frame them as an instance of market transgressions by tech giants into the sphere of health and medicine, in line with a “hostile worlds” doctrine that upholds that the borders between market and non-market spheres should be carefully policed. This article seeks to outline the limitations of this common framing for critically understanding the phenomenon of the Googlization of health. In particular, the mobilization of a diversity of non-market value statements in the justification work carried out by actors involved in the Googlization of health indicates the co-presence of additional worlds or spheres in this context, which are not captured by the market vs. non-market dichotomy. It then advances an alternative framework, based on a multiple-sphere ontology that draws on Boltanski and Thevenot’s orders of worth and Michael Walzer’s theory of justice, which I call a normative pragmatics of justice. This framework addresses both the normative deficit in Boltanski and Thevenot’s work and provides an important emphasis on the empirical workings of justice. Finally, I discuss why this framework is better equipped to identify and to address the many risks raised by the Googlization of health and possibly other dimensions of the digitalization and datafication of society.

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