FACTORS AND ISSUES OF SOCIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT OF SOCIAL TRUST TO THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN TERMS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN RUSSIA

The article deals with the features and methodological foundations of sociological study of social trust to the healthcare system. The relevance of the research is determined by the practical and scientific necessity to overcome the differences in understanding the phenomenon of trust, especially in modern Russia when the vector of transformation of the institute of healthcare is corrected forcedly. The goal is to create an integrative theoretical approach to assess the factors of construction and reproduction of social trust of medical care consumers in terms of the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology of sociological constructivism, which makes it possible to study either mental or institutional factors of creating the crisis of social trust in health services establishes the novelty of the research. The system-semantic analysis of the topic results in determination of cognitive limitations of modern concepts, which reduce social trust exclusively to positive perception of medical services and its objectified accessibility. The authors suggest the following criteria to assess the social trust to the healthcare system during the COVID-19 pandemic: the attitude of medical care consumers to doctors and medical organizations; the degree of satisfaction in medical needs and self-assessment of one’s health; typical practices of self-preservation behavior; consistency of interests of various agents; emotional mood, fears and expectations from medical intervention (including vaccination); macro-level socio-psychological context, vector of public health policy and culture of public health. Based on the empirical data, the dynamics of social opinion about the effectiveness of Russian healthcare system and its main problems in the epidemiological situation are analyzed. The authors conclude that there is the need for both systemic regulation of institutional mechanisms of trust, and the increasing of personal responsibility and adaptive potential of consumers of medical care.