Particularities of Russian society’s trust toward medical organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The results of a sociological study of the characteristics of public trust in medical organisations in the Russian regions during the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed in this article. The study is based on the paradigm of social constructivism. Such approach makes it possible to study both mental and behavioral mechanisms that shape the public trust to the medical services in crisis time. Trust is the result of communication and activity of all agents of the institution of healthcare. Patients and the medical community expect a lot not only from each other, but also from the state and the authorities. However, politicians, managers and organizers of healthcare also have internal and external barriers for their agency due to the system they manage. Considering the socio-cultural traumatization of Russian society, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the complicated sociopolitical situation in the world, the author comes to the conclusion that radical structural transformations in the national health care system are inappropriate for the medium term.