Using pictures to improve health communication.

Using pictures to improve health communication. Communication between health professionals and patients is inherently problematic. Professionals want to communicate clearly, but tend to use technical terminology because it is precise, because it is familiar, and often because there are no exactly equivalent non-technical words available. Furthermore, they often try to communicate more information than patients can process. Patients, even those with well developed language skills, find it difficult to process medical information because they are unfamiliar with medical terminology, because they are preoccupied with their symptoms, and because they are upset which makes concentration difficult. While people at all literacy levels have problems understanding and using health information, people with limited literacy skills are especially in need of help. They need help in understanding written information and, because they place more reliance on spoken explanations, they need help in remembering what they hear.

This paper discusses how combining pictures with spoken or written text affects health communication. Four aspects of health communication will be discussed: (1) drawing attention to the materials or message, (2) helping people comprehend the information being presented, (3) increasing recall of the message, and (4) increasing the likelihood that people will act in accordance with the message (adherence).