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Who Do You Trust?

Who Do You Trust? 1024 304 Abbie Miller

Health and science communicators face increasing challenges in a world where misinformation abounds and trust is a coveted commodity.

You might have heard the phrase “post-truth world” used to describe the shifting dynamics of fact, fiction and trusted sources.

With the increase in artificial intelligence (AI) generated content, the end of fact-checking on the world’s most influential social media sites, and the bounty of misinformation in every corner of the internet, it is hard to know where to go for information you can trust. But misinformation isn’t only happening online. It’s happening in face-to-face conversations among friends, families and communities. Often, the spread of misinformation is actually well intentioned.

Misinformation with harmful intent is sometimes called disinformation, which requires a different approach. In health care, both dis- and mis-information are significant problems. However, the well-intentioned spread of health information that is inaccurate, incorrect or dangerous becomes a massive problem in the context of a society that does not trust the traditional keepers of medical and scientific facts and evidence, such as government agencies, academic institutions and health care professionals.

As a scientist, physician or anyone who works in and communicates about health and science, you probably have sources you trust that members of your family or community may consider suspect. And vice versa.

Tracking Trust

The Edelman Trust Barometer is a massive public interest survey conducted by one of the world’s largest public relations fi rms. In 2024, 28 countries and more than 32,000 respondents were represented in the survey, which provides valuable insights for communicators.

In 2024, an ongoing trend of declining trust continued, and where individuals place their trust continued its shift to the private sector. Both the government and media were viewed as less competent and less ethical than nongovernment organizations and businesses. The majority of people (61 to 64%) worry that leaders in government, business and journalism are “purposely trying to mislead people by saying things they know are false or gross exaggerations.”

Health care still ranks favorably at 73% trustworthy, but this may be more of an indication of how people feel about direct care for an illness. Health care innovations such as artificial intelligence and gene-based medicine scored neutrally at 50%.

Finding an Opportunity

Trust in people remains strong and herein lies our opportunity: 77% of respondents said they trust scientists, 74% trust teachers, 63% trust citizens of my country and 62% trust neighbors. As people with a vested interest in science and health communication, we can connect with people in many different ways – as neighbors, community members, scientists and educators.

Connecting in different ways also enables us to take advantage of the “someone like me” effect. When it comes to who respondents believe about new innovations and technologies, scientists and “someone like me” held equal confidence (74%). If the parent of a newborn trusts the advice of someone “like them” in a parenting social media group just as much as they trust the advice of their pediatrician or a researcher in the fi eld, negative ideas about vaccines or other evidence-based types of care take root and spread rapidly.

Shifting Trust Requires Adjusted Approach

As a health and science communicator, shifts in trust are challenging my long-engrained methods of building confidence and connection with my audience. For example, backing up a recommendation for a healthy behavior or informative statistic by citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was once the best way to show that the recommendation or information was trustworthy. But if my audience no longer trusts the CDC, how can I best communicate with them?

5 Essential Skills to Improve Communication and Build Trust

  1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE: Who needs to know the information you want to share? What are their preferences? Do they have a baseline understanding of the topic or is it all new? Ask yourself questions about the recipient of your communication – whatever the form – to help tailor your message and approach to meet your audience’s needs. It’s about them – not about you.
  2. USE PLAIN LANGUAGE AND UNDERSTAND HOW HEALTH LITERACY AFFECTS YOUR AUDIENCE: Speaking plainly and using simple words helps people understand new concepts or information when they are tired, stressed and distracted. Th is applies to peers and patients. But it is important to remember that using plain language should never be about talking down to people. Use your words (written or spoken) to build bridges, not barriers.
  3. MAKE IT VISUAL: A picture can be worth a thousand words, but only if it connects with the audience. Consider whether your audience is comfortable reading charts or graphs, or what labels in an illustration or animation might help clarify content.
  4. SHARE YOUR ENTHUSIASM: People are attracted to people who are passionate about their work. Your enthusiasm and attitude are contagious, whether you are helping a parent understand post-op instructions or presenting your latest research at a national meeting.
  5. BE YOURSELF: Connecting with others on the basis of our humanity allows us to build trust and open doors for conversation.

This article appeared in the Fall/Winter 2023 issue. Download the full issue.

 

Reference:

Edelman Trust Institute. 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer. https://www.edelman.com/trust/2025/trust-barometer. Accessed Feb. 13, 2025.

Image credit: Nationwide Children’s

About the author

Abbie (Roth) Miller, MWC, is a passionate communicator of science. As the manager, medical and science content, at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, she shares stories about innovative research and discovery with audiences ranging from parents to preeminent researchers and leaders. Before coming to Nationwide Children’s, Abbie used her communication skills to engage audiences with a wide variety of science topics. She is a Medical Writer Certified®, credentialed by the American Medical Writers Association.

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