Our latest poll is out! Conducted in conjunction with More in Common to find out what people really think about the burning issues in the health and charity sectors, it canvasses 2,000 people, grouped into 7 bespoke segments known as ‘The British Seven’. Our aim is to find out the opinions that broadly unite us, and the ones that divide us: litmus tests for a specific point in time and an indication of how the sands are shifting every 6 months.
When it comes to health, we asked people what they felt the biggest issues were, and whether they were being discussed too much or too little in the media. As with our last dip, ‘Progressive Activists’ felt most strongly that the main way to improve health was to improve the NHS, whereas the vast majority of ‘Established Liberals’ felt that good health was down to the individual.
But this time, the top two issues that people felt didn’t get discussed enough were men’s health and antibiotic resistance. It is encouraging for those wanting to raise awareness of these areas, who perhaps might worry that there isn’t the wider public appetite for – or understanding of – them. And especially as men’s life expectancy continues to be much lower than women’s, and the anti-microbial resistance issue is arguably the next big challenge of our time.
Most people thought women’s health was discussed about the right amount, and many felt that the anti-vax movement got a bit too much airtime.
We also found that Pharma companies have a clear role to play in giving health advice to patients: 46% of people said they’d trust them to give support with their health, which was actually slightly more than they’d trust patient associations – and far more than they’d trust Dr Google. This was the first time we’d asked this question, so it’ll be interesting to track this over time.
Good news, too, for any of our clients who wondered whether health apps were genuinely useful or an expensive distraction: almost half of respondents reported having used a health app, ranging from almost 3 in 5 among those under 40 and just over a third in older age cohorts – with little difference across the seven segments.
But there’s a job to do in terms of our view of what makes a carer: despite 46% of people having taken at least one ‘carer action’, only 23% would consider themselves to be one. But with family being the number one group that people go to for health support and that affects their quality of life, we in the health sector should think far more carefully about how we communicate with these under-appreciated and influential groups.
If you want to find out more about this poll and others, or to understand how we can help you make use of these insights into different audiences, why not get in touch today?
Contact matthew.hunt@11-london.com.
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