2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Analysis: Health Decisions in the Age of Information Overload

Key Findings

• — 49% globally (59% of 18 to 34-year-olds) believe an AI-fluent person without medical training can do at least one health task as well as or better than a doctor; by task: deciding whether someone needs to see a provider 26%, basic procedures 19%, choosing treatment or medication 19%, diagnosis 16% (task breakdown from press coverage of the same release)
• — When recommendations from a doctor and another source conflict, 51% always follow the doctor, 34% say it depends, 15% always follow the other source
• — Health-care providers still lead uncredentialed sources on diagnosis (50% vs 23%) and long-term treatment (34% vs 18%); uncredentialed sources lead on diet and nutrition and on wellness and longevity (35% vs 26%)
• — AI platforms are named as an influence on health decisions by 13% of people who hold no divisive health beliefs and 46% of those who hold three or more; friends and family rise from 51% to 71%, people with similar conditions from 27% to 59%
• — Nearly one in three say an uncredentialed person (creator, spiritual leader) has a major influence on their health decisions; formal training from a trusted institution is the top marker of a legitimate expert (71%)

Methodology Notes

Online survey, n=12,998 adults in 13 countries, fieldwork 28 February to 11 March 2026 (per Yale News); analysis of previously unpublished items from the April 2026 Special Report: Trust and Health data set (16 countries, 16,000 respondents). The AI-fluency item was asked of half the sample (press). Country list per press coverage: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, UK, US; Yale News confirms Australia, Brazil, India, South Africa and the US. Yale News states publication on 15 September 2026; Yale says further analyses will be submitted for peer review. Belief measures, not performance measures. VERIFICATION ROUTE: the edelman.com report PDF returns 403 to every client tried; findings taken from the co-publisher's article (news.yale.edu, 17 September 2026, quoting Dean Megan Ranney), a Yale SPH co-author's write-up (Matthew Facciani, 17 September 2026) and trade coverage (O'Dwyer's PR News 16 September; World of DTC Marketing).

Sources