Among the key findings about generational beliefs in the Edelman’s Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and Health include:
“We are navigating a generational transition in how health is understood, trusted, and shared,” Haupt notes. “This is not a trend—it’s a structural reorientation. Organizations must recalibrate their approach to reflect a world where trust is local, expertise is diversified, and emotional authenticity is a key currency.”
Speaking directly to health care organizations, she advises that, to lead in this new era, they must “meet all generations, but especially our youth, where they are—on the platforms they use, in the styles they speak and through the voices they already trust. Empathy isn’t just an ethical compass—it’s a business strategy and an imperative for the healthcare community globally.”
It all led, he believes, to what were the main revelations of the report—that young adults have become self-reliant when it comes to medical information, that they put equivalent amounts of trust on various sources for medical advice, and that they are avid sharers of health-related news items, with nearly 60 percent of young people sharing such stories, compared to 24 percent of those 55 and older.
“The clear message to the health care community,” Edelman writes, “is that COVID has changed the game for communicators from inside out to outside in. Specifically, the elites are no longer in control of information, whether public health authorities or scientific institutions. Personal experiences cataloged on social media now carry enough weight to rival the believability of data provided by Government or even health care providers.”
Correcting misinformation and disseminating scientific facts, he concludes, “is the true public health emergency that must be treated with urgency.”
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