Perceptions of Healthcare and Trust

Abstract

This thesis is about the perception of healthcare with a focus on the role of trust. One of the purposes is to bring a better understanding on how some factors influence the way people in Europe perceive their healthcare. The data used was from European Social Survey (ESS), with statistics from all parts of Europe. Selection was made by using previous research which divided the countries into different healthcare types. The statistical method used was linear regression. Results showed that there are differences between healthcare systems and that socioeconomics factors do play a role, even if the impact of them varies between the healthcare types. Individual characteristics used in the study were gender, age and social class. The result showed that the significance of age, class and gender for the perception of healthcare varied between the healthcare types. Trust had an influence on perception of healthcare across all healthcare types. The discussion pointed out that there is still, a need for more research on the perception of healthcare.