Physicians are in a unique position to restore patients’ trust in medicine, John Whyte, MD, CEO of the American Medical Association, said in a viewpoint article published on Medscape.
“[Mistrust] is not simply a communications challenge,” he wrote. “It is one of the defining public health challenges of our time. While technology and social media have accelerated the spread of misinformation, they are not the root cause of mistrust. Much deeper forces are at work: polarization, isolation, declining confidence in institutions and a growing sense among many Americans that no one is telling them the full truth. Physicians are uniquely positioned to change that — and do so at a point and moment that can change someone’s life.”
Every day, patients and physicians are seeing a growing erosion of trust in science, public health and medical institutions. A mix of unaffordable care and easy access to viral misinformation has led to increased public health risks, as seen in measles outbreaks and lowering vaccination rates.
But patients still trust their physicians and nurses, according to recent surveys, giving them the unique responsibility to not only care for patients but restore confidence in science and evidence.
“Patients do not need physicians to lecture them,” Dr. Whyte wrote. “They need us to listen carefully, explain clearly and speak honestly — especially when issues are complicated or emotionally charged. They need physicians who can acknowledge uncertainty where it exists, while still grounding conversations in evidence and expertise. … They are trying to make sense of conflicting messages in a culture where outrage and certainty often travel faster than nuance and evidence. … We must meet it directly.”
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