Michele Hart-Henry, Managing Director, Connelly Partners Health
Imagine the following situation (purely hypothetical): Maria, age 58, has successfully managed her Type 2 diabetes for years. Recently, she stopped checking her blood sugar, not because she’s ignoring her health, but because after going down a rabbit hole with Instagram posts and TikTok videos, she felt overwhelmed. Online, she found conflicting advice about new treatments. On TV, pharmaceutical ads promised miraculous results while disclaimers scrolled by. Even her doctor’s recommendations seemed to conflict with what she read on social media. Unsure who to trust, Maria postponed her next appointment and decided that using a combination of ginseng and a highly restrictive diet was a better way to take care of her health. Far-fetched, you say? Not really.
Her story is not unique. In today’s fraught times, wading through health information has become even more challenging, especially for those who may not have high levels of health literacy.
Across the country, patients pause care, second-guess medical advice, and turn to non-expert sources for guidance. The erosion of trust in “traditional” healthcare professionals and institutions harms people directly. According to reports published by the Kaiser Family Foundation, when patients hesitate, they let chronic conditions worsen, skip preventive care, and potentially drive up costs for everyone.
Recent surveys confirm this pattern. Forty-five percent of adults say they delayed or avoided medical care because conflicting information confused them. Sixty-five percent report they feel overwhelmed by contradictory health messages (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2024). Confidence in hospitals and physicians dropped significantly over the past decade (Gallup, 2024). Meanwhile, misinformation spreads unchecked and deepens confusion (Edelman, 2024).
Case in Point: HPV Vaccine Hesitancy
The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine rollout shows just how trust problems can stall public health progress.
After health officials introduced the HPV vaccine, myths about safety and necessity spread widely. Holman et al. (2014) documented how social media amplified worries about side effects. Lower vaccination rates resulted in population-level protection being behind schedule and delayed reductions in HPV-related cancers (Walker et al., 2021).
Misinformation did not act alone. Providers gave inconsistent explanations, and anecdotal fears gained traction. Despite extensive research and monitoring by health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), misinformation about the vaccine’s safety remains a significant barrier to its widespread adoption. Unsubstantiated claims linking the vaccine to serious health problems like autoimmune diseases, infertility, and chronic pain syndromes have circulated, often amplified by social media.
This example proves a simple point: even well-supported interventions fail when people do not trust the messages or the messengers.
Why Healthcare Marketing Matters
Healthcare marketing shapes how people perceive treatments and institutions. When marketers serve up ambiguous messaging, they fuel skepticism. Lyles et al. (2023) found that 35 percent of direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads used conditional or unclear claims, which undermined consumer trust.
The internet magnifies the problem. McKinsey (2024) found that 72 percent of consumers struggle to navigate online health information, and half rely on non-expert sources. In that environment, misinformation spreads faster and patients lose confidence in legitimate medical guidance.
Strategies to Rebuild Trust
As Marketers and communicators, we can take concrete, evidence-based steps to maintain or restore trust:
- Be transparent. Disclose benefits, risks, and uncertainties up front, and use easy-to-understand language.
- Use patient voices. Share authentic, diverse stories that humanize clinical evidence and humanize treatments, conditions and solutions.
- Simplify and align messaging. Across all platforms and audiences, remove jargon and ensure consistency of your messages.
- Rely on traditional, trusted messengers. Feature clinicians and community leaders to boost acceptance of messages and messaging. If you’re going to use Influencers, thoroughly vet those influencers to ensure that their corpus of work doesn’t conflict with your messages.
- Counter misinformation quickly. Monitor all channels and mediums, not just yours, and correct false claims in real time
Confusion and lack of trust produce measurable harm. We’re all hit daily with an onslaught of information. Knowing who and what to trust is hard, especially for consumers who don’t work in the industry. They may delay care, skip prevention, and struggle to make informed decisions.
One thing is clear: from vaccine hesitancy to skipped treatments, individuals and the health system share the cost.
Healthcare leaders must earn trust, not assume it. When marketers prioritize clarity, transparency, and empathy, they can restore confidence and help people make better health choices.
Ready to learn more about our anthropological approach to moving consumers through their healthcare journeys? Reach out to us to see how we can bring clarity and empathy to your needs.
References
- Blendon, R. J., et al. (2024). Public perceptions of health institutions in the era of misinformation. Health Affairs, 43(3), 123-131. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.0142
- Dempsey, A. F., & O’Leary, S. T. (2018). Human papillomavirus vaccination: narrative review of studies on how providers’ communication affects vaccine uptake. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 14(6), 1475-1487. https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2018.1442153
- Edelman. (2024). Edelman Trust Barometer 2024. Edelman Intelligence. https://www.edelman.com/trust-barometer
- Freeman, D., et al. (2021). Transparent communication of uncertainty: Effects on trust and engagement. Medical Decision Making, 41(7), 822-832. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X211004586
- Gallup. (2024). Confidence in Healthcare Providers in the U.S. Gallup Poll Report. https://news.gallup.com/poll/
- Greenhalgh, T., et al. (2019). The impact of patient narratives on health behavior change. Social Science & Medicine, 234, 112348. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112348
