Visualizing Health is a library of graphics that make health risk data easier to understand

As the ocean of healthcare data gets bigger and bigger, the difference between accessing data and understanding data is becoming increasingly clear. As many as 35 percent of U.S. adults lack intermediate health literacy – for example, the ability to read instructions on a prescription label and determine what time to take it. How can […]

By Deanna Pogorelc on April 01, 2014

As the ocean of healthcare data gets bigger and bigger, the difference between accessing data and understanding data is becoming increasingly clear.

As many as 35 percent of U.S. adults lack intermediate health literacy – for example, the ability to read instructions on a prescription label and determine what time to take it. How can healthcare professionals share important but complex data with patients in a way that they can understand and act upon it?

In an effort to help, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Michigan Center for Health Communications Research called in some graphic designers.

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As part of a project called Visualizing Health, RWJF and UofM asked the designers to create data visualizations for a number of use cases, from helping patients understand drug side effect risks to translating test results. Then they tested out those visualizations on consumers via online surveys, to see which ones generated the most accurate understandings and risk perceptions.

The researchers found that visual techniques performed differently in various scenarios. For example, this simple color-block graph performed well for helping consumers understand their risk for cardiovascular disease.

But this complex bar graph was most effective in communicating how side effects change over time.

The best part is the groups have made all of visualizations they tested available for health professions to use and modify under a Creative Commons license, along with a wizard to help select images based on specific needs and uses.

[Images from Visualizing Health]