Public Perceptions of Health Equity and How Communication Can Shape Understanding and Action
Health equity is a particularly politically-charged construct in the U.S. in 2025. However, public understanding of concepts related to health equity and health disparities has been polarized along political party lines for many years. Dr. Gollust will present survey data from 2020-2023 describing the extent of political differences in the public’s understanding of health disparities in the context of COVID-19, alongside qualitative data on public health communicators’ perspectives about their strategies addressing these topics within a challenging political information environment. Then, she will present emerging research that suggests how information can shape public understanding of health equity and influence public support for policies that could improve population health.
Learning Objectives: After this webinar, attendees will be able to:
- Understand trends in public opinion about health disparities and related concepts in the United States.
- Identify strategies communicators are using to try to promote public understanding of health equity.
- Recognize evidence-based communication approaches that have promise in shaping public understanding of health equity.
This is an event of the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), hosted by the Center for Bioethics.
Speaker(s)
Sarah Gollust, PhD, is a Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, as well as Affiliate Faculty in the Center for Bioethics. A social scientist who studies the intersections of communication, politics, and health policy, Dr. Gollust has examined media influences and public opinion around significant health issues, including obesity, health equity, the Affordable Care Act, and cancer screening. She also examines how research is translated into policymaking. She is a co-lead of the Collaborative on Media and Messaging for Health & Social Policy, an interdisciplinary group of researchers who study how media and messaging shape public opinions, attitudes, and behaviors. Dr. Gollust completed a predoctoral fellowship in Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, a postdoctoral fellowship in population health at the University of Pennsylvania, and she received her PhD in Health Services Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan.
