The Role of Communication in Redressing Health Disparities: Mobilizing Public Support and Action

Abstract

This study examines whether and how exposure to information about health disparities from mediated and interpersonal sources and political trust are jointly associated with policy support and political advocacy. Using a two-wave panel survey design with a national U.S. sample, we found that political trust moderated the association between exposure to health-disparities information from interpersonal sources and policy support. Specifically, a negative relationship between exposure from interpersonal sources and policy support was observed among respondents with a lower than average level of political trust. In contrast, respondents with a higher than average level of political trust showed a positive association between exposure from interpersonal sources and policy support. Among respondents with average level of political trust, the relationship between exposure from interpersonal sources and policy support was generally flat. In addition, exposure to health-disparities information from media sources was positively related to political advocacy after controlling for possible confounders.