Edelman's 2024 Trust Barometer health report drops a punchy line about young Britons ditching their GP for social media, mates and their own googling, without saying who actually counted them. This includes practices like yours, if your clients are under 35 and already halfway convinced before they ring you.
Practices attracting younger clients should expect people who have already formed opinions from unofficial channels before they ever pick up the phone, whatever the true size of that shift turns out to be.
| Original Research | A claim that more than half of under-35s in the UK now lean on social media, friends and family, or their own searching, ahead of seeing a doctor. |
|---|---|
| Source | https://www.edelman.com/uk/trust/2024/trust-barometer/special-report-health |
| Overview | Edelman's UK arm published this line inside a broader health trust report, without naming a survey, sample or method behind the specific figure. |
| Year | 2024 |
| Publisher | Brand, Edelman |
| Relevance to Wellbeing | Speaks to how younger clients now arrive already opinionated, though the number underneath that idea cannot be traced or checked. |
| Our Verdict | Too early to tell worth noting as a pattern many practices will recognise, but not something to quote as established fact. |
| Our Summary |
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| Our Geo View | The claim is specific to UK adults; no comparable figures are offered for other countries. |
Edelman's UK Trust Barometer health report states, without citation, that a majority of under-35s have changed how they seek health advice, turning to social media and people they know rather than a doctor.
Edelman UK, Trust Barometer Special Report: Health, 2024. No separate survey, press release or dataset could be found supporting this particular figure.
Credibility flags: no methodology disclosed, no sample size given, and the publisher is a communications firm rather than a research or academic body.
A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.
Marked down heavily on how solid the method is, since nothing was disclosed, and marked down on practice fit, since it covers general health behaviour rather than coaching, therapy or healing directly; recency is reasonable given the report's 2024 date.
| Practice type | Relevance | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| Coaching | Medium | Be ready to discuss your methods without sounding defensive about it. |
| Therapy | Medium | Address self-diagnosis gently in intake materials and first sessions. |
| Training | Medium | Keep qualifications visible, since trust is clearly being contested. |
| Alternative Healing | High | Lean into transparency about training and evidence, given the crowded chatter. |
| Clinical | Medium | Prepare for patients arriving with pre-formed views from unverified sources. |
| Retreat/Centre | Low | Keep messaging credible and sourced rather than chasing trend-driven claims. |
Best before: revisit this once Edelman's Trust Barometer actually publishes methodology behind the figure, or when the next year's health report lands, whichever comes first.
Every practice owner knows the client who has already made up their mind before they have sat down, whatever the real number behind it turns out to be.
The best practitioners always find their way here. We have a story garden, a listening wind and a visual river waiting to make sense of themselves - they do, beautifully, in a twenty-five-minute conversation over a good coffee. How do you take it?
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