22 <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Wednesday <strong>September</strong> 6 <strong>2023</strong>
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz Wednesday <strong>September</strong> 6 <strong>2023</strong> <strong>Selwyn</strong> <strong>Times</strong> NEWS 23 Who do we trust in a pandemic? A FATHER-DAUGHTER team from Canterbury University studied data from eight countries to rank trust in health authorities, media, experts, and politicians. Political science honours student Alexa Schluter is the lead author of the paper, ‘In the Covid-19 pandemic, who did we trust? An eight-country crosssectional study’. Her father, Professor Philip Schluter, head of UC’s school of health sciences, supervised her research. The pair worked with clinicians and public health researchers in Canada to study data from 9000 survey participants from Canada, USA, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Philippines, New Zealand, and Hong Kong. The surveys were carried out in late 2020. In all countries surveyed, public trust in health authorities was highest. Conversely, public trust in politicians ranked lowest across the board. However, in New Zealand, trust in politicians was significantly higher than in the other countries studied. The researchers linked this to data from the Global Corruption Perception Index that records how transparent populations believe their governments to be. TRUST: Ashley Bloomfield and Jacinda Ardern had a high level of trust during the Covid-19 pandemic. PHOTO: GETTY New Zealand’s high ranking on this index may explain our greater levels of trust in information provided by politicians. Professor Philip Schluter Schluter also points to the consistent messaging delivered by government and public health officials in New Zealand. “Here we saw the daily briefing with the Prime Minister and the Director General of Health promoting the same stance. By comparison, information coming from US political leadership sometimes contradicted advice of health authorities,” he said. Alexa Schluter was also interested to see if political orientation affected participants’ trust Alexa in government Schluter information. “We found higher levels of trust in government policy expressed by those who identified as right leaning or conservative voters. “That may reflect the fact that, at the time of the pandemic, the majority of countries surveyed had conservative governments in power,” she said. The researchers believe their paper has added relevance within the context of the ‘infodemic’ identified by the World Health Organisation as a central challenge during the Covid-19 pandemic. A combination of ‘information’ and ‘epidemic’, the term describes the rapid spread of information, both accurate and inaccurate, enabled by the internet and social media. “In this environment, public trust becomes an important determinant in population health outcomes, and that’s quite a new idea,” said Professor Schluter. “These large-scale health challenges will continue to happen in future, so we really need to understand what works to foster public trust in health interventions.” The paper will be published in the prestigious international Journal of Global Health. TREE TROUBLE? Call for a FREE Quote 03 384 9630 oN sAle Now! Now only $35.80 Plus $5 P&H per copy CENTRAL CANTERBURY FARMS WANTED www.thetreepeople.nz AvAilAble from stAr mediA: Level One, 359 Lincoln Road Addington, Christchurch Phone 379 7100 We currently have qualified cash buyers, separate individuals and groups, looking for the following properties in the <strong>Selwyn</strong> District. If you are thinking of selling, please call us in the strictest confidence. RESTAURANT & CAFÉ WEEKEND BRUNCH FAMILY FRIENDLY SENIOR'S LUNCH SPECIAL SATURDAY & SUNDAY 8.30am-2pm Great Kids menu plus designated play room $25 AMAZING SELECTION PLUS A SPECIAL KID'S MENU Two courses Soup/Roast or Roast/Dessert $13 ‘Famous for their roasts!’ $ 20 ALL Kid’s Special Two courses Lunch only Monday - Saturday 12pm - 2.30pm Conditions apply RESTAURANT & CAFÉ The RACECOURSE HOTEL & Motorlodge 118 Racecourse Rd, Sockburn, Christchurch. Ph 03 342 7150 www.racecoursehotel.co.nz We have buyers looking for: • Up to 100ha with irrigation and a good house • A small dairy farm up to 120ha • Up to 80ha bareland close to Burnham, preferably with irrigation, but would consider dryland • 750 to 900-cow dairy farm, must have a rotary shed, would consider the purchase of all stock, plant and machinery and take on existing staff if that was an option • High Country, possibly a foothills property, but would prefer a larger Station Please phone for a confidential discussion Ben Turner 027 530 1400 Craig Blackburn 027 489 7225 WHALAN AND PARTNERS LTD, BAYLEYS, LICENSED UNDER THE REA ACT 2008