One of the major challenges facing science and health communication is effectively engaging and informing society on scientific topics. At this year’s SciComm South West Conference at UWE Bristol, Ana Vasconcelos, a PhD researcher and visual science communicator at the University of Coimbra, presented her research on improving visual science communication using a participatory design approach.
Ana’s work focuses on autoimmune encephalitis (AE), a group of neurological disorders that cause inflammation of the brain, leading to potentially debilitating impacts on patient’s lives. In Portugal, where her research is based, there is a lack of effective, easy-to-understand resources for AE patients and their families on crucial topics such as the treatment and management of their condition. Her project aims to promote effective communication about AE, and improve the health literacy of patients, their families and wider society around this condition.
At SciComm South West, Ana highlighted this issue, and her approach to improving the visual information resources for AE patients through participatory design. To test the effectiveness of participatory design against other methods, Ana is creating three different AE infographics: one designed by Ana alone, one co-designed with clinicians who interact with AE patients, and another co-designed with AE patients and their families.
Co-designing communication resources with patients themselves is an innovative way to ensure resources meet their specific needs. For example, Ana found that some AE patients she spoke with experience cognitive impairment as a symptom of their condition, making infographics with busy or small text difficult to understand. To engage the target audience effectively, Ana asked AE patients to rank the issues surrounding their condition from easiest to most difficult to understand, prioritising the content included in the infographics according to the patients’ needs. This level of specialised content and accessibility measures in science communication is essential for ensuring effective sharing of information.
Ana hopes to produce a toolkit for other science communicators as a result of the project, promoting good practice in developing effective infographics for various scientific areas, in health and beyond. While the project is still in progress, Ana plans to contribute to the furthering of participatory approaches in visual science communication and to raise awareness about AE among wider society. By encouraging participatory design for health communication, Ana’s research not only advances the field of visual science communication, but also empowers the voices of AE patients, prioritising health literacy for patients, their families and the wider public.
By Jen Springer, MSc Science Communication student at UWE Bristol.