The way we all get information about our health, and make decisions about treatments or health products, is being upended. And health brands and organisations are struggling to keep up.
We know that many people are seeking health advice from Chat GPT, Gemini, Claude or AI mode in Google – whether it’s to check symptoms, preventative behaviours, lifestyle recommendations or product comparisons. Fifteen percent of the public have used AI chatbots for health advice instead of contacting a GP, according to research from King’s College London.
But there’s a huge gap in the research about how people are using AI tools to navigate health concerns. How are they using AI to discover, evaluate and choose health and wellness brands, products and services?
To help close that gap, The Folk Group has partnered with Cardiff University on a research project to understand how generative AI is changing the way people make health and wellness decisions.
The project, which will complete this summer, will produce original, human-centred insight into how and why AI is changing consumer behaviour in the health sector. It will be grounded in qualitative fieldwork and informed by access to the Real Folk Panel, a unique group of communications professionals with lived experience of health challenges.
The result will be strategic evidence steering how organisations should shape their communications strategies for the AI era. It will outline how to communicate responsibly in a world where it is easier than ever for people to be misinformed.
A number of health brands are contributing to this research, and we also want other organisations to be able to benefit from it.
Join the waitlist to receive early access to the research findings before it is launched to all.