Public opinion of health care based on many factors

Public opinion of health care based on many factors

Report suggests reasons for changes in concerns

Satisfaction about the health care system, services, and providers change frequently based on a number of forces, according to a report by Harris Interactive, a marketing research firm based in Rochester, NY.

The report suggests that all the forces sometimes have made a difference at one time or another in public priorities and support for legislation or new health care initiatives. But the magnitude of the effect varies greatly from event to event. The report is available at www.harrisinteractive.com.

The factors that affect public concerns and priorities include:

• experiences;
• media coverage;
• advertising and advocacy;
• events;
• physicians;
• election campaigns;
• costs;
• aging of the population;
• the gap between expectations and reality.