Attitude of the Population to the Activities of Public Movements in the Field of Health Care and Promotion

Abstract Public movements in the field of health protection and promotion are an integral part of a modern democratic state and have a real impact on government decisions. Development of public movements depends on the level of civic awareness and engagement; therefore, it seems useful to assess the attitude of the population to such institutions. The study surveyed 8,499 users of the mobile application of the largest public movement «NATIONAL FRONT «FOR RUSSIA», conducting activities in the field of protection and promotion of public health. Half of the respondents (47.2%) believe that public movements play an important role in the development of public health and healthcare, although a third (33%) of the respondents are not aware of such movements. About 40% reported that the greatest contribution to the development of the healthcare industry should be made by the state together with public movements. To further increase the role of public movements in healthcare development it is required to stimulate more active citizen participation, thus making it necessary to increase public awareness of such movements, legislatively expand their powers, and provide additional state support.