Prevalence of health priorities during presidential elections communication in France, Spain, and the US

ABSTRACT

Background: Health messages become most pertinent during elections, when citizens are more receptive to political messages. Political communication tools work to create a ‘climate of opinion’ to influence public sentiment and reporters’ perceptions of health political ideologies and priorities. In considering how parties communicate with voters about health, this study aimed to examine the health-related discourse during presidential elections.

Method: A content analysis was undertaken, including the political manifestos and the first address to the parliament of the elected candidate in the latest presidential elections of France, Spain, and the US.

Results: A total of 266 content units were identified and analyzed. Findings revealed the dominance of the health-related political debate around the following themes: ‘costs’ (n = 89), ‘health systems’ (n = 59), ‘healthcare’ (n = 59), ‘welfare’ (n = 42), ‘preventive care’ (n = 22), and ‘telehealth’ (n = 21). The French campaign highlighted some current public health challenges, such as ‘prevention’ and ‘health inequalities’.

Conclusions: In the three analyzed countries, a narrow dimensional view of health was found in political communication materials, mainly focusing on health costs and healthcare services. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are further discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Elections
• healthcare
• voters
• opinion
• public health
• political communication
• political party
• health policy

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Daniel Catalan-Matamoros, upon reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Commission; Jean Monnet; EU Communication Policy (EUCOPOL) (project reference no. 587167-EPP-1-2017-1-ES-EPPJMO-MODULE); and the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities from the Government (project reference no. RTI2018-097709-B-I00).

Notes on contributors

Daniel Catalan-Matamoros

Daniel Catalán-Matamoros Faculty in the Department of Communication Studies at University Carlos III of Madrid. European Doctorate from the University of Malaga, MBA and Master in Public Health from the Nordic School of Public Health. Author and reviewer of articles in health communication. He has participated as a guest faculty in various national and international Universities and Congresses. He has worked in national and international organizations, such as the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality of Spain, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the World Health Organization. He is a founding partner and vice president of the Spanish Association of Health Communication, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Spanish Journal of Health Communication.

Jorge Tuñón-Navarro

Jorge Tuñón-Navarro Faculty at University Carlos III of Madrid, external scientific expert of the European Commission and of the European Parliament, reviewer of European projects, in addition to collaborating with the College of Europe, the National Institute of Public Administration of Spain or the OBS Business School. He previously obtained his European Doctorate (Extraordinary Prize) at the Complutense University in Communication and European Union after graduating in Law, Journalism and Political Science. In addition to being a translator and consultant for different regional administrations, he has experience as a journalist and has worked for INAP and the European Commission. Currently, he is principal investigator for the European project Jean Monnet: EUCOPOL ‘European Communication: challenge or miracle’. [Ref: 587167-EPP-1-2017-1-EN-EPPJMO], www.comunicacioneuropea.eu