Principles and Pragmatics for Building Trust in Authority; Comment on “Placing Trust at the Heart of Health Policy and Systems”

Articles in Press

Document Type : Commentary

Author

School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, UK

Abstract

McKee et al make a powerful plea for placing trust-building at the core of public health initiatives. I endorse that call and propose one general principle along with four practical guidelines for building trust between the public and the authorities. The general principle is that trust is rooted in shared identity and that, therefore, the task of building trust is rooted in building a sense of shared identity both amongst the public and between the public and authorities. The four guidelines are (1) trust the people!; (2) recognise and respect difference; (3) engage with the public; and (4) understanding and support trump blame and punishment. Details and justifications for each of these guidelines is provided in Supplementary file 1.

Keywords

References

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International Journal of Health Policy and Management

Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 03 March 2025

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 December 2024
  • Revise Date: 02 March 2025
  • Accept Date: 02 March 2025
  • First Publish Date: 03 March 2025

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