CPH Seminar: Signals, trust, and AI – Understanding public trust in health care institutions

All are welcome to attend this hybrid Cambridge Public Health seminar exploring public trust in health care and health data.

Public trust underpins effective public health – shaping everything from willingness to share health data to confidence in clinical encounters. Yet trust is not a single, global trait. It is profoundly shaped by context, the type of institution involved, and the relationship between the truster and the trustee.

Drawing on new UK-representative survey findings and conceptual work into trust, this seminar explores how people form trust differently when the NHS, family members, or technology companies act as stewards of health data – and why these distinctions matter for the adoption of digital health tools and AI-driven care.

We also discuss ongoing research on whether social signals in the healthcare setting – whether accents, names, or appearance – influence perceptions of trustworthiness, adding another relational layer to how trust operates in clinical settings.

Taken together, these insights show why nuanced understandings of trust are essential as AI and data-driven technologies expand across healthcare. Knowing how trust is formed – and who is regarded as trustworthy – will be key to ensuring that digital and data-enabled care is acceptable and equitable.

Register here for in-person attendance

The seminar will also be available online. Register here for online attendance.