Research & Listening to People
Centering people’s shared and diverse needs
to guide our mission and work.
In order to improve the health care system, we must start by listening to people and include them in every step of the process.
Our research and listening work is foundational to the organization. From understanding people’s needs, to designing policy through our innovation and policy design, to pushing for change through our state and federal efforts, USofCare is putting people first and centering equity along the way.
USofCare has led a strategic initiative to employ listening as a foundational step to informing the direction and priorities of the organization’s work. Too much of our current health care system has been influenced by partisan politics and well-funded special interests. We seek to shift that dynamic and center the conversation about health care around the needs of people. We are particularly interested in identifying inequities people face when seeking health care to inform appropriate policy solutions to close this gap.
Our goals:
- Champion authentic listening and public engagement to drive long-term change and center USofC’s priority policies and campaigns around the true needs of people.
- Identify the most effective messages that are resonant, values-based and increase support for our prioritized policies.
- Support USofC’s near-term efforts to craft and pass policies that address people’s needs.
- Understand people’s immediate needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic to inform federal and state level responses.
Our Research Approach
Our work is designed to strategically include several types of activities that are taking place simultaneously to provide a comprehensive picture of people’s needs, including:
- Commissioned research to learn even more about people’s values, needs, desired outcomes and policy solutions
- Community conversations to include in-depth interviews and deep listening conversations where we have open dialogue with individuals and small groups
- Regular analysis of public opinion to ground our findings in the wealth of existing research being commissioned by national leaders and to monitor shifts in the landscape – topline takeaways are being shared with state and federal policymakers
- Ongoing engagements and consultations with USofCare’s key stakeholders and external advisors, including public opinion research partners and members of the Voices of Real Life and Founder’s Council, which offer diversity of viewpoints based on lived experiences and expertise
- Academic research to identify specific factors and groups that correlate with disparate health outcomes and experiences
Key Findings
Our research shows cost being the main source of anxiety when it comes to health care and
most agree it is time to build a better health care system.
84% of voters agree that cost is the main source of anxiety when it comes to health care
42% of voters have foregone health insurance in the past because of costs
41% of those under 30 have opted not to seek medical treatment in the last year due to cost
68% express concern about people close to them losing insurance because of a loss of employment
Voices of Real Life
In 2019 we launched the Voices of Real Life which aims to bring people from all walks of life to participate in and inform the change making process.
We seek to bring people living ordinary and extraordinary lives to provide perspectives and opportunities for learning. We apply these learnings into United States of Care’s priorities and ongoing work across policy, state and federal engagements.
Latest Research
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March 2, 2023News & Updates, Research
South Carolina Listening Tour: Our Listening work in Vance, St. Matthews, and Denmark County
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February 6, 2023News & Updates, Research
United States of Care releases “The Health Equity Landscape From the People’s Perspective: 4 Key Insights from USofCare’s Listening Work”
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September 19, 2022Research, Resources
Listening to Informal Caregivers: Outstanding Challenges and Needs
Background At United States of Care, it is our mission to ensure that everyone has access to health care that…
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