TY - JOUR
T1 - Public health across partisan lines
T2 - What has changed since the onset of COVID-19
AU - Sellers, Katie
AU - Leider, Jonathon P.
AU - Gollust, Sarah
AU - Gendelman, Moriah
AU - Castrucci, Brian
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Two polls were conducted by an independent polling firm in September 2018 and July 2020 to assess public perceptions of public health departments and services among voters in the United States. The poll also sought to uncover changes in perception before and after the onset of COVID-19. A random sample was drawn from state voter files proportional to the national registered voter population by state, with quotas set by specific demographics to ensure representativeness. Overall, 1800 individuals participated between the 2 polls and weights were used in the analysis to adjust for nonresponse. From 2018 to 2020, respondents' familiarity with local public health departments rose 11% and their perception of the importance of the public health department to community health increased by 16%. In addition, support for public health departments and services differed significantly by political affiliation. In 2020, 85% of Democrats perceived the public health department to be very important while only 62% of their Republican counterparts felt similarly. Public health advocates have a unique opportunity to demand sustained funding for public health as American voters are more familiar and supportive of public health departments now than they were before the pandemic. In addition, policy makers, elected officials, and political candidates have the opportunity to leverage these data to fight for the health of their communities.
AB - Two polls were conducted by an independent polling firm in September 2018 and July 2020 to assess public perceptions of public health departments and services among voters in the United States. The poll also sought to uncover changes in perception before and after the onset of COVID-19. A random sample was drawn from state voter files proportional to the national registered voter population by state, with quotas set by specific demographics to ensure representativeness. Overall, 1800 individuals participated between the 2 polls and weights were used in the analysis to adjust for nonresponse. From 2018 to 2020, respondents' familiarity with local public health departments rose 11% and their perception of the importance of the public health department to community health increased by 16%. In addition, support for public health departments and services differed significantly by political affiliation. In 2020, 85% of Democrats perceived the public health department to be very important while only 62% of their Republican counterparts felt similarly. Public health advocates have a unique opportunity to demand sustained funding for public health as American voters are more familiar and supportive of public health departments now than they were before the pandemic. In addition, policy makers, elected officials, and political candidates have the opportunity to leverage these data to fight for the health of their communities.
KW - COVID-19
KW - partisan gap
KW - perception of public health
KW - public health system
KW - voters
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096816715&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85096816715&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001293
DO - 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001293
M3 - Article
C2 - 33239557
AN - SCOPUS:85096816715
SN - 1078-4659
VL - 27
SP - S5-S10
JO - Journal of Public Health Management and Practice
JF - Journal of Public Health Management and Practice
ER -