Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: A Study of the Relationship between the CDC and Adults with Chronic Illness Following the Ebola Crisis

Purpose: The fall of 2014 was marked by a period of panic for much of the American population.  As care providers worked frantically to contain the first cases of the Ebola virus originating on American soil, citizens became more and more skeptical of the government’s ability to handle this public health threat.  According to a recent Gallup poll conducted in November of 2014, Americans’ approval rate of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the country’s leading public health organization, was down 10% from a similar poll conducted in May 2013 (Jones, 2014).  As a major funding institution, the CDC provides nearly $7 billion annually to fund health research (CDC, 2013).  The purpose of this study is to measure trust in the CDC amongst a population of lower-wage earning adults participating in a CDC funded study who suffer from one or more chronic health conditions. 

Methods: Data collection will begin in January 2015 and will take place as a secondary analysis of baseline surveys collected from an ongoing study at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  The aims of the larger study are to measure the health and employment outcomes of implementing the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, a course traditionally targeting older adults, amongst lower-wage employees between 40-64 years old.  Results will be derived from a longitudinal analysis of the participant surveys completed at baseline, 6, and 12 months during the study.

Results:  Results shared during this conference will identify themes in the participants’ level of trust in the CDC immediately following the Ebola crisis, and how this trust differs according to demographic variables including age, race, gender, and type of chronic condition.  Patterns in level of trust will be assessed over a two-year period. 

Conclusion: This local investigation could have implications for the social marketing decisions of public health professionals across the globe as they try to implement and improve health promotion and disease prevention programs.  This study will provide researchers and program coordinators a better understanding of their relationship with a population with high disease burden, and may act as a guide as they make social marketing decisions around sponsor disclosure via logo display in recruitment materials.