Prevention work works: The population gives the federal government good marks
A population survey conducted by the Sotomo research center and Demo Scope shows that the FOPH's prevention work is having an impact. The rules of conduct and hygiene are known to the population and are accepted and implemented.
While prevention campaigns normally have to contend with a limited willingness on the part of the population to receive information and a great deal of competition for topics, the coronavirus pandemic has created almost ideal conditions for the authorities to convey their messages. The population is paying a great deal of attention to the topic and is readily absorbing information, and more than 95% of the population is aware of the messages on rules of conduct and hygiene. This leads to an exceptionally high level of awareness in all segments of the population. However, the success of prevention work is ultimately measured by actual behavior. And here, too, it can be seen that a predominantly large proportion of people in Switzerland adhere to the rules of conduct. This applies to both older and younger people.
More focus needed on risk groups with pre-existing conditions
The target group-specific prevention message for people with a pre-existing condition (79%) was less well received than for older people (90%). They also have an increased risk of suffering a serious illness. In contrast to older people, however, they are hardly recognizable as a group in public spaces and their behaviour is less discussed. The results of this population survey now show that this group should be made more aware in the context of prevention.
Akeptance very high
Acceptance of the Federal Office of Public Health's prevention messages is currently exceptionally high, as is trust in the FOPH's work. On a scale of 1 to 10, the average score is 8.9. This level of trust also entails a special responsibility. Unlike at the beginning of the prevention campaign, when there was still little receptiveness to the relevant messages, the FOPH's statements and information are currently received and accepted directly by a clear majority. A great deal of authority is attributed to them. Awareness of this exceptional situation is important for balancing public relations work by the FOPH and the authorities in general.
Responsible younger generations
The study shows that the vast majority of the younger population, which feels less directly threatened by the coronavirus than the older population, is also making a very important contribution to prevention work. At the same time, the crisis in its entirety has particularly drastic consequences for younger people who are at the beginning or in the middle of their lives. With regard to longer-lasting, restrictive measures, the contribution of younger people deserves special recognition.
The Data collection to measure the impact of the Federal Office of Public Health FOPH's prevention work in connection with the new coronavirus took place between March 19 and 23, 2020. The basic population of the survey is the language-assimilated resident population of Switzerland aged 15 and over who use the internet. The survey was conducted online and lasted an average of 22 minutes (median). Respondents were recruited on a quota-controlled basis (language region, age, gender, education) via two online panels.
After cleansing and checking the data, the information from 2,079 people was used for the analysis. These were subsequently weighted on the basis of current data from the Federal Statistical Office FSO in order to compensate for the disproportionality of the quota system (oversampling in Ticino and of people working in the healthcare sector) and to establish representativeness for the Swiss resident population. The measurement accuracy for the entire sample of n = 2,097 is max. +/- 2.1% with 95% certainty.
The survey was conducted in accordance with the standards of vsms (Association of Swiss Market and Social Researchers).
