More patients are coming to their doctors with questions about long held health practices. How should health experts respond?((File photo: US Air Force)) It can feel like more than ever before people are questioning long-held scientific findings, from the safety of fluoride in water, to the efficacy of vaccines, or even the importance of pasteurizing raw milk. Trust in science has fallen since before the pandemic. Lizzy McGrevy, Side Effects Public Media’s community engagement specialist, sat down with Health Reporter Ben Thorp to talk about how can public health experts better explain the processes that lead to health recommendations? This transcript has been edited for length, style and clarity. Lizzy McGrevy: So, maybe a good way to kick this off is by talking about the shift healthcare professionals, doctors, and so on are seeing as people come in for a visit.  Ben Thorp: Yeah, so several of the researchers I spoke to say there’s been a rise, that even predates the pandemic, of people doing their own research. People are coming into a doctor’s office or a dentist's office and saying, “I read this study or I saw these news clips and I have questions or concerns about a procedure or a particular medical practice.” And, on some level, experts I spoke with say that kind of engagement is good. People want to make informed decisions about their health and are taking steps to be proactive about informing themselves. I spoke with Jennifer Reich. She’s a Sociologist at the University of Colorado and the author of Calling the Shots, Why Parents Reject Vaccines. She said the problem is that how you or I do research for, say, what is the best laptop to buy, doesn’t line up with how scientific research works around something like vaccines. “We gather information, we read online reviews, we talk to people we trust, and we make what feels like an informed decision, which is really not the same as how researchers think of research, right?” she said. “Research is a long process of meticulous procedures that can be replicated and accounted for that are not aimed at a particular outcome.” McGrevy: Ok, but Ben if I want to inform myself what am I supposed to do? Where should I be looking? Thorp: Yeah, I think that’s kind of the million-dollar question right now. In many cases, the kinds of research studies you or I might be able to pull up right now online may be of lower quality. Accessing studies from the most reputable medical journals can cost a lot of money, with some of the highest caliber stuff stuck behind paywalls. There are signs this may be changing though. That’s kind of problem number one. Problem number two is that fewer people have the relationship with their primary care doctors that they might have had say 20, 30 years ago. So there aren’t always the avenues to have these longer conversations about research and health concerns that you might want to have with a trusted professional. What I heard from Reich is that questioning isn’t bad, but needs to be part of a broader dialogue with health experts, as opposed to an immediate veto. McGrevy: So, what does this mean for communicating public health to the public?  Thorp: So, the experts I spoke with say research is full of disagreements between experts that have to be ironed out over the course of many studies, over the course of years and sometimes even decades. But the public may not always understand that. I spoke with Dominique Brossard. She’s the chair of the Life Sciences and Communication Department at the University of Wisconsin Madison. She said she actually really dislikes the phrase “follow the science”. “It is ridiculous,” she said. “We follow the science where, doing what? I don't want to follow the science. You know, I want science to be part of the discourse and bring data to make the best policy decision to feed the public good.” Brossard also said that there’s a question about who people trust to give them accurate information. Trust in science overall has fallen since the pandemic, but it’s still relatively high at more than 75%, compared to trust in government institutions. That means that those nuanced conversations with a local doctor are almost more important to the average person than the advice coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. McGrevy: Ben, thank you for taking the time to talk with us.  Thorp: Always a pleasure. The Checkup by Side Effects Public Media is a regular audio segment on WFYI's daily podcast, WFYI News Now. Side Effects Public Media is a health reporting collaboration based at WFYI in Indianapolis. We partner with NPR stations across the Midwest and surrounding areas — including KBIA and KCUR in Missouri, Iowa Public Radio, Ideastream in Ohio and WFPL in Kentucky. Copyright 2024 Side Effects Public Media