In health today, expertise alone no longer guarantees trust. While medical degrees and academic training still matter, they are no longer the only voice that people consider when making health decisions. What’s emerging in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust and Health is a broader definition of legitimate authority on health that prioritizes empathy, clarity and relatability. The voices shaping health today are not only credentialed experts, but also peers, creators and patients who communicate with emotional resonance and lived insight.
This shift doesn’t reject expertise. Rather, it challenges our assumptions about what counts as expertise in the first place. A new health credential is taking shape—one that elevates the importance of human connection and centers on communication as a key differentiator.
Redefining Trust with Expanding Expertise
Doctors and academically trained professionals remain highly respected. In fact, “my doctor” is still the most trusted to tell the truth about health globally (82%), followed by friends and family (72%). But institutions continue to fail us on health—no institution today is trusted on health, with government and media ranking lowest in trust.
Amid this fragmentation, people are applying a more nuanced lens to credibility. Roughly two-thirds (67% and 64%, respectively) say someone with lived health experience or whose advice helped in the past is an important qualifier to be considered a legitimate health expert—credentials outside of formal academic training.
Younger adults are leading this shift. Nearly half (45%) of 18–34-year-olds believe the average person who has done their own research is just as knowledgeable as a doctor on most medical issues, a 7-point increase in the past year. This redefinition of expertise is happening as personal health confidence rises—75% of people aged 18-34 say they feel confident in finding trustworthy health information—yet 58% still regret a health decision they made because of misinformation.
The message is clear: people want more than technical or textbook answers. They want to be seen, understood and spoken to in plain language. Credentials remain critical, but they must now be accompanied by communication that builds emotional trust.
The Rise of the “Non-credentialed” Expert
A growing number of patients are turning to community leaders, creators and peers—voices that may lack formal credentials but hold significant sway. These individuals are often more available, more relatable and more reflective of real-world experience.
This trend is particularly evident among younger generations. Nearly two-thirds of 18–34-year-olds actively consume health information from original sources or social media, and are more likely to post their own health-related stories, news and opinions than older age groups. They don’t necessarily see their doctor and their favorite health creator as being in conflict—they simply see both as part of a broader ecosystem of trust.
However, trust in providers can be fragile. Roughly 1 in 3 patients (36%) say they won’t trust or will stop seeing a provider if their political views don’t align. This is especially pronounced among 18–34-year-olds (47%), where that number jumped five points in the last year. In short, trust isn’t just about what you know: it’s about who you are and how you show up.
The debate isn’t whether credentialed or uncredentialed voices are more valid. It’s about which voices are meeting people where they are.
Communication Creates Differentiation
Influence today is defined by relevance, identity alignment and communication style. When people don’t get what they need from traditional experts—whether that’s clarity, empathy, or cultural relevance—they look elsewhere.
In many cases, structural limitations can create constraints for the credentialed. This is a call to action for communicators. To support science, we must translate it—without losing its integrity—into terms that people can use, understand, feel and trust.
Implications for Health Communications
This shift presents both a challenge and an opportunity. We must reconsider how we credential our messengers. Empathy, clarity and lived experience are no longer soft skills—they are core criteria for building health influence.
This means being mindful of generational and cultural nuance. It means blending voices—those with academic training and those with lived expertise. It means centering storytelling as a vehicle for science, and listening as much as we speak. Audiences respond to messengers who feel like them, sound like them and share their values. When we expand our definition of “credible,” we expand our ability to connect.
Earning Influence
Anecdote isn’t the enemy of science—it’s often the bridge to it. The new health credential lives in the intersection of rigor and relatability, where influence is earned through both knowledge and connection.
To resonate in today’s health environment, we must think more broadly about who holds the mic. Expertise still matters—but it must be communicated with humility, humanity and heart. Influence today doesn’t only come from titles. It comes from shared understanding and human connection—and that’s where real impact begins.
Jennifer Hauser is Global Health Co-Chair.
