Public Perceptions of Health Equity and How Communication Can Shape Understanding and Action

Oct 3 2025 | 12 - 1pm

Zoom | Free | Open to All

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.

Resources:

Team's Website: https://commhsp.org/

Studies Described in the Talk:

Niederdeppe, J., Bigman, C. A., Gonzales, A. L., & Gollust, S. E. (2013). Communication about health disparities in the mass media. Journal of Communication, 63(1), 8–30.
Gollust, S. E., Gansen, C., Fowler, E. F., Moore, S. T., & Nagler, R. H. (2024). Polarized perspectives on health equity: results from a nationally representative survey on US public perceptions of COVID-19 disparities in 2023. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 49(3), 403–427.
Gollust, S. E., Medero, K., Nelson, Q. M., Ford, C., Fowler, E. F., Niederdeppe, J., & Nagler, R. H. (2025). Strategies for and Barriers to Communicating About Health Equity in Challenging Times: Qualitative Interviews With Public Health Communicators. The Milbank Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.70022
Lewis Jr, N. A., Porticella, N., Liu, J., Taylor, T., Michener, J., Barry, C. L., ... & Niederdeppe, J. (2025). Beyond fear of backlash: Effects of messages about structural drivers of COVID-19 disparities among large samples of Asian, Black, Hispanic, and White Americans. Social Science & Medicine, 118096.
Niederdeppe, J., Porticella, N., Liu, J., Michener, J., Franklin Fowler, E., Nagler, R. H., ... & Lewis Jr, N. A. (2025). Centering historically minoritized populations to design effective messages about an evidence-based policy to advance social equity. PNAS nexus, 4(1), pgae588.

Other Resources on Communicating About Health Equity:

Frameworks Institute reports:

This is an event of the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs (OACA), hosted by the Center for Bioethics, and co-sponsored by the following U of MN Units: Program in Health Disparities Research, Medical School; Center for Race, Indigeneity, Disability, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, College of Liberal Arts; Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC); Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication, College of Liberal Arts; Department of Communication Studies, College of Liberal Arts; Center for the Study of Political Psychology, College of Liberal Arts; Masonic Cancer Center (MCC); Minnesota Population Center; Healthy Weight Research Center; Rural Health Research Center; Business Advancement Center for Health (BACH), Carlson School of Management, College of Pharmacy; Medical School; School of Public Health; School of Nursing; School of Dentistry.

Participants are eligible to receive a Certificate of Attendance to submit to their respective professions for CEUs. Certificates of Attendance are available only to webinar attendees who are present for 75% or more of the talk.

Health professions students are eligible for IPE credit. IPE credit is available only to webinar attendees who are present for 75% or more of the talk and complete a written reflection form.

This talk will be recorded and posted with our other event recordings.

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. She 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.