Americans most associate public health with researching disease
Core finding
When Americans picture what public health does, research leads the way: about seven-in-ten (70%) say it involves researching disease, according to a November 2025 Verasight survey.
About half also link it to food inspections (52%) and giving shots (49%). Smaller shares mention responding to natural disasters (34%), taking complaints (31%), or scheduling doctors' appointments (26%), and about one-in-ten (11%) say they have no clue what public health does.
Selected responses
Americans most associate public health with researching disease.
What does public health do?
n = 1,000 · Nov 14–20, 2025 · MoE ±3.2%
Methodology
Full methodology →| Mode | Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting |
|---|---|
| Population | US adults age 18+ |
| Field dates | Nov 14–20, 2025 |
| Base (unweighted) | 1,000 |
| Margin of error | ±3.2% |
| Module | Module 2 |
| Sponsor | Verasight |
| Weight variable | weight |
| Weighting targets | age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status |
Sources
- reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-apha-2025
What does public health do?
Cite this question
Verasight APHA Omnibus Survey #2025-148, fielded November 14-20, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.