Gallup, Rollins Survey Reveals Americans’ Public Health Priorities, Trust
As the Trump administration begins to implement changes to national public health strategies, a new survey from Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and Gallup provides insights into what public health issues Americans want leaders to prioritize and who they trust most for critical health information.
The Rollins-Gallup Public Health Priorities Survey asked 2,121 adults in the United States, ages 18 and older, their opinion on trending public health topics, including:
- If the U.S. has made progress in addressing key health concerns over the last 10 years
- What sources of health information they trust the most (and least)
- Whether federal or state government could most effectively address their concerns
“Understanding the issues that matter to Americans is critical when determining where to center federal public health efforts. It is also important to understand the sources people trust most for their knowledge when making health-related decisions for themselves and their communities,” says Rollins Dean M. Daniele Fallin, PhD. “This survey provides government and public health leaders valuable insight into what Americans believe are the highest priorities moving forward and who they trust most to protect the health and safety of our people.”
What The Survey Found
Health Care Access and Affordability Rise to the Top
- Health care access and affordability was ranked by Americans as the highest public health priority for government leaders to address. One in four selected this issue as their highest priority, and more than half (52%) rated it in their top three priorities. However, the percentage varies across subgroups.
- Republicans and Republican-leaning independents ranked “ensuring safe water and food” (24%) as their highest priority, followed by reducing chronic disease (16%) and health care access and affordability (19%). Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents ranked health care access and affordability (32%) as the highest priority, followed by food and water safety (13%) and strengthening safety net programs (12%).
Americans Want Federal Government to Address Their Health Concerns
- A majority of Americans said the federal government can address their top three priority issues more effectively than state governments.
- Majorities of both Republicans/Republican-leaners and Democrats/Democratic-leaners choose the federal government over the state government as the more effective force for addressing each of the issues that emerged as a top priority for them.
Americans Trust Doctors, Nurses, Scientific Research, and CDC Most
- Americans chose health care providers, scientific researchers, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as their most trusted source of public health information.
- Political leaders ranked at the bottom, behind social media and digital influencers.
Americans See Some Progress, A Lot of Lost Ground
- A majority of Americans believe we have lost ground in several key areas of public health concern during the last decade, with the opioid crisis (54%), mental health (50%), and healthy diet (47%) receiving the most pessimism.
Why This Matters
“The survey reinforces that Americans, across demographics and party lines, mostly agree on the public health issues that touch their daily lives. Public health is at a crossroads, but the survey is clear—Americans think we have more work to do. Prioritizing these issues in the new administration could be unifying,” says Stephen Patrick, MD, chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management.
