The world, and especially the United States, is in turmoil right now.  It’s hard to get a group of people to agree about virtually any meaningful issue.  But what has become clear, at least anecdotally through our recent research, is that opinions about medical providers have gotten better due to COVID-19.

During a recent virtual focus group with New York City residents, all but one agreed that COVID-19 has changed their views of healthcare workers, or at least strengthened their already-positive perceptions.  Although we have not yet fielded a national survey to get hard data about this issue, we anticipate seeing significant improvements in our next poll.

In our last survey, conducted in October 2019, 79 percent overall said they generally trust nurses and 76 percent indicated that they generally trust doctors.  There was a notable divide between age groups, however – 85 percent of jurors age 45 and older said they trust nurses, compared to 76 percent for those 44 and younger.  For doctors, 80 percent of older jurors indicate that they trust these providers, compared to 74 percent of younger respondents.

Based on our recent focus groups, we expect to see younger jurors’ numbers rising for both of these questions.  Perhaps most striking has been the increased empathy for caregivers related to the fact that they have chosen to subject themselves and their families to the risk of infection so they can care for their patients.

• “They’re literally putting their lives on the line.”
• “No doubt, everyone who works on the front lines is affected mentally and emotionally…. You really start respecting and caring for them more.”
• “It just made me respect the healthcare field a lot more…. It’s not all just giving people meds; it’s also keeping yourself safe and keeping those around you safe.”

It is difficult to tell whether this reputation boost will be permanent, or whether it will carry over to faceless but related entities such as hospitals or pharmaceutical companies.  But it’s clear that at least for now, juror sympathies lie with frontline healthcare workers.

Pivoting During a Pandemic (Updated June 1, 2020)

We plan to resume in-person research later this month in some areas, but we’ll continue conducting virtual focus groups in many jurisdictions.  This includes areas with an older population that is higher risk, or places with extremely restrictive social distancing policies limiting the number of people in a room.

Our virtual focus groups have provided our clients a meaningful way to evaluate cases and develop mediation and trial strategy.  Through Zoom, we can conduct focus groups that provide the same kind of challenging, juror-driven discussion you love from Jury Impact but through remote technology.  Juror predispositions, case facts, arguments, witness videos and damages can all be tested while you observe and communicate with our backroom analysts to make sure the research stays focused on your priorities.

Jurors are craving both social interaction and financial compensation right now, and this format allows your trial team to safely explore their perspectives through virtual-only research.  Contact us for more information on this approach, or a no-cost webinar to see exactly how it works.