Information-communication role of infographics in conveying health related messages

Abstract

Komunikacija sadržaja koji se odnose na zdravlje svakog pojedinca treba biti razumljiva, jednostavna i lako dostupna. Infografika vizualno prenosi na jasan i precizan način podatke i koncepte i pomaže u razumijevanju i prisjećanju složenih informacija. Cilj je istraživanja ispitati razinu čitljivosti i razumijevanje sadržaja infografike kao forme prenošenja zdravstvenih poruka te njenu primjenu kao alata u postizanju više razine zdravstvene pismenosti. Metodom anketnog upitnika na uzorku od 102 studenta poslijediplomskog doktorskog studija Biomedicina i zdravstvo Medicinskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu testiralo se predznanje odabranih medicinskih područja, razumijevanje infografike i strukturiranog sažetka u odnosu na sažetak te iskustvo čitanja i dostupnost tražene informacije. Ispitivala se i razina informacijske pismenosti te stav i mišljenje ispitanika o ulozi infografike. Drugi dio istraživanja analizira razinu čitljivosti odabranih infografika kroz dva čimbenika: čitatelja i tekst. Čimbenik čitatelja iz uzorka opisan je varijablama spol, dob, obrazovanje i znanje engleskog jezika, a čimbenik teksta se mjerio sa sedam formula i indeksa čitljivosti. Prema rezultatima iz testa razumijevanja, infografika i strukturirani sažetak pokazali su se granično boljim formatom u odnosu na samo strukturirani sažetak. Infografika je ocijenjena kao format koji pruža bolje iskustvo u čitanju i dostupnosti tražene informacije. Ispitanici su imali srednju razinu informacijske pismenosti te su prepoznali uloge infografike u znanstvenom komuniciranju i popularizaciji znanosti. Infografika je sve popularniji komunikacijski oblik u znanstvenom medicinskom kontekstu koji pomaže u učinkovitom komuniciranju složenih informacija. Njena uloga primjenjiva je u promoviranju informacijske pismenosti jer pomaže u prenošenju rezultata znanstvenih istraživanja široj publici tako što izdvaja i naglašava važne informacije.INTRODUCTION: The communication of health-related content should be understandable, simple, and easily accessible for everyone. Infographics can be used to visually present data, concepts, and processes clearly and concisely, making it easier for the reader to understand and retain the information. They can play a valuable role in the scientific context of Ph.D. students by helping to communicate complex information and ideas effectively. Objectives: The main research objective is to investigate the readability and comprehension of content and infographics as a form of conveying health messages and their use as a tool to achieve higher levels of health literacy. The specific research objectives are: 1. To examine the attitudes of Biomedical and Health Sciences Ph.D. students towards the use of infographics as a tool for communicating health messages in the field of Biomedicine and Health Sciences; 2. To compare the effectiveness of structured abstracts and infographics in communicating knowledge in the field of Biomedicine and Health Sciences; 3. To determine the level of readability of selected infographics in the field of Biomedicine and Health Sciences. METHODS: To examine the effect of different abstract formats of a systematic review on the knowledge about health information presented in the review, reading experience, and perceived user-friendliness an infographic and structural abstract, were compared to a structural abstract. Prior knowledge in selected biomedical fields of the content of the review was first tested. The online questionnaire method was used on a sample of 102 students of the postgraduate doctoral programme in Biomedicine and Health Sciences at the University of Zagreb School of Medicine. In addition to the tests, the general attitude of the students towards infographics, the level of information literacy, as well as the knowledge about the use of infographics as a communication tool will be assessed based on the answers in the additional questionnaires. In the second part of the study, the readability of an infographic was examined using two indicators: an indicator of the reader and an indicator of the text. The indicator of the reader was described by gender, age, education, and English language level of knowledge variables. 2 The indicator of the text was measured using seven readability formulas and an index to check the reading level, reading assessment, and reading education grade level. Readability analysis examines the factors that influence the level of comprehensibility of the content of health messages intended for health professionals. RESULTS: Respondents scored higher on average in the prior medical knowledge tests in the field of diabetes than in the malignant disease prior knowledge test. In the comprehension test scores, the infographic and structured abstract showed slightly better results than the structured abstract alone. The infographic was evaluated as providing a better reading experience and user-friendliness compared to a structured abstract. According to the first specific objective of the research, the main components of attitudes of Biomedicine and Health Sciences doctoral students towards the use of infographics as a tool for conveying health messages in the field of Biomedicine and Health Sciences were analysed. Using the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the principal components in questionnaires: attitude towards infographics, attitude towards infographics in a field of science, and attitude towards infographics during doctoral studies, two components were separated: (1) infographics as a scientific form, (2) infographics as a communication form of conveying information. The respondents recognised the role of infographics in scientific communication and the popularisation of science. The instrument also contained questions on the participants' information literacy and it was divided into five parts of the variables: information sources, general methods of searching for information sources, the method of searching databases, the habit of using information sources and the last part of information literacy, which concerned the assessment of the credibility of information sources. To determine the level of information literacy, additive information literacy was created. The index was created by summing all the values of the variables. A higher value on the index means a higher level of information literacy. On the information literacy index, respondents achieved a range from 4 to 29 with an average value of 14.67 (sd=3.928). The respondents showed an average level of information literacy. The majority of respondents (83.3%) from the sample (N=102) always or sometimes check the accuracy/credibility of information before using it and show a higher level of information literacy than respondents (16.7%) who do not check information. 3 According to the results for the last specific objective of the research, which was to determine the level of readability of selected infographics using the results of seven indexes and formulas for analysing the readability of the text, both infographics are more difficult to read and require a higher level of education to understand the content. CONCLUSION: Infographics can be a useful tool for promoting information literacy, as they can help to effectively communicate complex information and results of scientific research in a visual and concise manner. However, it is important to remember that infographics should be used in conjunction with other forms of information, such as text-based structural abstracts, and should be carefully evaluated for their accuracy, reliability, and readability