Assessment of Clarity of Images in COVID-19 Health Education Materials Among Diverse Communities in the United States.

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Health Communication, 2025, v. 40, no. 7: Assessment of Clarity of Images in COVID-19 Health Education Materials Among Diverse Communities in the United States.
• Journal Article:
  Health Communication
• Personal Author:
  Pinto, Sarah J. ; Rubio, Bianca ; Elsberry, Lauren Blackmun ; Rivera, Cesar ; Lainz, Alfonso Rodriguez
• Description:
  Given the need to provide clear communication to diverse audiences in the United States during public health emergencies, this assessment of images in COVID-19 communication materials identified ways to improve visual communication design. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 74 participants from various racial and ethnic backgrounds to gauge the clarity of images without associated text used in two infographics. Most images were understood by participants, but for each image at least some participants had an interpretation different from intended or only captured a portion of the message. Some images were interpreted by most or all participants as representing something other than intended. Participant recommendations were used to develop seven practical ways to improve image clarity: realistic graphics, exaggerated body position and actions, details to show image context and background, icons to encourage or discourage actions, symbols to show movement, consistency in recommended behavior in each image, and closely matching image to associated text. These elements can be applied in combination with existing health equity guiding principles for creating visual communication products before testing and validating products with intended audiences of different sociodemographic and cultural background to ensure appropriateness and clarity of images.
• Content Notes:
  Author manuscript
• Subjects:
  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • COVID-19
  • Ethnicity
  • Health Communication
  • Health Education
  • Interviews as Topic
  More +
• Keywords:
  • visual communication
  • health communication
  • diverse community
  • health equity
• Source:
  Health Communication, 2025, v. 40, no. 7
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2391644
• ISSN:
  1041-0236 ; 1532-7027
• Pubmed ID:
  39169890
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11845523
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Pages in Document:
  1213-1224 (22 pdf pages)
• Volume:
  40
• Issue:
  7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/262045/cdc_262045_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.48 MB]
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1e41ead3d84a975a1c6c4e76d124292aea48608e834fffc4ddc807d1a4ea70e2f206d96c19e4f23c791230a542ee2dda52daccac5c313b05f5ceadf7857323b5