How to combat rising social mistrust

Trust in American institutions has been declining for years. Today less than half of Americans trust health care leaders, and health care journalism is rated last in terms of trust from America’s public—all according to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer. While some researchers say the phenomenon of mistrust isn't new and has come in waves across a century of American history, the recent Edelman findings feel especially troubling now as we look ahead to the future of US health care.    No one has all the answers on where to go from here, but as I consider the road ahead, I’m grounded in part by the strategies shared by David Rousseau and Noam Levey on separate past episodes of the podcast I host with Don Berwick, Turn on the Lights. The strategies they each offered for building public trust in journalism can be applied by health care leaders in the work we do every day --   1. Be transparent about your methods. Show people the data, sources, best practices that inform your thinking.   2. Have the humility to know you don’t always know the answers.    3. Bring in local expert voices that your community/audience connects with and trusts, and make sure those voices are diverse.   4. Use plain language, never jargon. Connect with people in their terms and on their terms.    5. Make people/patients the focus, always. Put their experiences, needs, assumptions, point of view at the center of EVERY cause, case, and communication you make.    Trust is crucial for optimal functioning of the health care system. Whether you’re a health care journalist, leader, or provider you can put these strategies to work and contribute to our collective rebuilding of trust in health care.    For more, listen to past episodes of Turn on the Lights here: https://bit.ly/3YWXL5f and explore IHI’s theory of how to repair, build, and strengthen organizational trustworthiness in health care: https://bit.ly/40MNQkh. 

🚨 The Rise of Antiscience: A Public Health Challenge We Must Address 🌍🧠 In today’s digital age, misinformation and mistrust have given rise to a troubling phenomenon: #antiscience. But what does it mean, and why should we care? #Antiscience refers to the rejection of scientific consensus, evidence, and methodologies. It thrives on misinformation, conspiracy theories, and distrust of experts, often fueled by social media’s rapid spread of unverified claims. Unfortunately, its impact is far from trivial—it’s a growing threat to public health worldwide. 🦠 Example 1: During the COVID-19 pandemic, antiscience narratives fueled vaccine hesitancy, delaying herd immunity and resulting in preventable hospitalizations and deaths. 🌡️ Example 2: Misinformation around climate change undermines critical public health initiatives addressing air pollution and its links to respiratory illnesses. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Public health thrives on collective action and trust in evidence-based policies. Antiscience erodes that trust, leaving communities vulnerable to outbreaks, preventable diseases, and environmental crises. 💡 So, what can be done to combat antiscience? 1️⃣ Educate, Educate, Educate 📚: Public health professionals must invest in transparent, relatable, and accessible communication. Break down complex science into digestible, shareable content—infographics, videos, or TikToks can make a difference! 2️⃣ Build Trust Through Community Engagement 🤝: Collaborate with trusted community leaders, religious figures, and influencers to amplify scientifically accurate messages while addressing cultural sensitivities. 3️⃣ Promote Science Literacy in Schools 🧬: Foster critical thinking from a young age. Equip future generations with tools to spot misinformation and question unscientific claims. 4️⃣ Fact-Check and Report Misinformation 🚨: Tech companies and governments must implement policies to limit the spread of fake news while promoting verified content. Be the fact-checker in your network! 5️⃣ Lead by Example 🌟: As health professionals, let’s model trust in science—share success stories from public health interventions that saved lives and improved communities. Antiscience isn’t just a challenge for scientists or policymakers. It’s a societal issue that requires all hands on deck. Together, we can create a future where science and evidence guide decisions, and misinformation loses its grip on public health. 💬 What strategies have worked for you in battling misinformation? Let’s brainstorm in the comments below! 🌐 #PublicHealth #Antiscience #HealthEducation #Misinformation #ScienceMatters #VaccinesWork #HealthEquity

95% of Americans identified misinformation as a problem when they’re trying to access important information Unfortunately, social media platforms have struggled to stem the tide of falsehoods and conspiracy theories around the globe. The existing content moderation model often falls short—failing to correct misinformation until it has already gone viral. To combat this problem, we need systemic changes in social media infrastructure that can effectively thwart misinformation. In a new set of experiments in the US and the UK, we developed and tested an identity-based intervention: the Misleading count. This approach leveraged the fact that misinformation is usually embedded in a social environment with visible social engagement metrics. We simply added a Misleading Count button next to the Like count which reported the number of people who tagged a social media post as misleading. This intervention was designed to reveal a simple social norm—that people like you found the post misleading. We found that the Misleading Count reduced people’s likelihood of sharing misinformation by 25%. Moreover, it was especially effective when these judgments came from in-group members. You can read more in our latest lab newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eRKMgT47