Trends in and Effectiveness of Infographics for Health Communication: A Scoping Review.

Health infographics are often used to improve knowledge or change behaviors. However, a systematic understanding of the current landscape and evidence of health infographics is lacking. The objective of this study was to explore trends in health-related infographics research and health infographic effectiveness. We conducted a scoping review of peer-reviewed publications describing health-related infographic development, using health and computer science databases. We extracted information from included articles to understand current trends in health-related infographics research and design elements that support infographic effectiveness. A total of 135 articles met our inclusion criteria. There was an increase in health infographics publications over time and definitions of infographics, when present, varied in scope and content. Out of 81 studies that evaluated the infographics' effectiveness in improving knowledge or changing attitudes or behaviors, 71 (87.7%) reported that infographics were effective. Infographics were often preferred over another medium (e.g. text). Overall, there is increasing interest in research regarding health-related infographics. While most effectiveness studies found that infographics helped improve knowledge or change behaviors, many studies lacked rigor in study design or reporting study methods. We did not find articles that focused on credibility or development of infographics tools - these are avenues for future research.

Designing an infographic webtool for public health.

OBJECTIVE: To create and evaluate a public health informatics tool, Florence, for communicating information to the public. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This user-centered design study included 3 phases: (1) an interview and survey study with public health practitioners to assess needs for creating infographics; (2) the application of assessment findings and public health-motivated design guidelines to the design and development of a public health-specific infographic design tool; and (3) a feasibility and usability study to evaluate the feasibility and usability of the tool. RESULTS: In phase 1, participants noted the importance of tailoring infographics to an audience and wanted flexible tools along with design guidance to help make fewer design decisions. In phase 2, we developed a prototype tool with: (1) layout and functionality familiar to PH users, (2) quick and intuitive ways to add and modify data in visualizations, and (3) health-focused visual elements. In phase 3, participants found Florence to be usable, providing an intuitive and straightforward experience, and that the focus on public health was useful. DISCUSSION: Based on needs assessments and existing literature, we created Florence along with public health practitioners to address their domain specific needs, ultimately leading to a tool that participants in our study deemed useful. Future research can build on our work to develop user-centered tools to meet their needs. CONCLUSION: Infographics are important for public health communication. Creating user-centered solutions to address the unique needs of public health can support communication efforts.

Parental Perceptions, Experiences, and Desires of Music Therapy.

Music therapy (MT) is a therapeutic practice where a therapist uses music to enhance the life quality for their patients. Children have an innate enjoyment of music, making music an effective medium for exploring their potential. In this study, we explore the parental perception of MT through an online survey. Contrary to the public perception that MT only addresses emotional needs, 47 out of 59 parents reported seeing improvements in other areas including behavioral, cognitive, linguistic, and social changes. All but one parent indicated that they would recommend MT to others. The survey results further revealed that even parents of children participating in MT had misconceptions regarding MT, which we describe in the paper. Parents reported inaccessibility and cost as other major limitations surrounding MT adoption. We conclude by discussing how technology solutions could mitigate issues with definition, distance, and cost, while maintaining the benefits of MT.

Plexlines: Tracking Socio-communicative Behaviors Using Timeline Visualizations.

In this paper, we visualize children's coordinated gaze, gesture, and vocalization to better understand communicative behaviors and to identify developmental delay, specifically in the domain of Autism Spectrum Disorders. To date, existing behavioral data from clinical assessment instruments are often stored in raw text files or spreadsheets. This wealth of data is then represented as a single number summarizing behavior. Our approach transforms this data into a graphical story of a child's behavior. To do this, we created Plexlines, a graphical record of a child's social and communicative behavior. When presented with Plexlines, clinicians and researchers formed their own strategies for exploring the visualizations and independently identified children in need of further evaluation. Feedback showed that Plexlines has the potential to be integrated into existing behavioral evaluation processes, aid in the detection of developmental delays in young children, and serve as a visual artifact to better communicate with parents.