Healthy Message Design -- Using Visual Tools for Communicating Environmental Health

Background:  The way the world communicates continues to change. Currently, nearly 2/3 of Americans own a smartphone, & 19% rely to some degree on smartphones for accessing online services/information and staying connected (PEW, 2015.)  Standing out in the constant barrage of information at the public's fingertips is a challenge to public health. One way to help public health messages and education be noticed is through the use of visual information.  Studies have shown, clearly developed visual representations of information surpass textual information by tenfold, and that 90 percent of all information people remember is based on visual impact (Forbes, 2013).  The emergence and power of visual platforms highlight the need to think visually if public health wishes to engage audiences online (Pollard,2016).  

Program background:  A picture tells a thousand words.  As public health professionals work to tell the story of our environment’s impact on health, integrating attractive visuals, such as photos, icons and images, into current communications can be an effective and engaging approach to environmental health marketing and education.  Use of visuals, done correctly, not only makes it easier for audiences to understand complex content, but can also help reduce message overload, and engage users to retain presented information.  Taking carefully crafted, researched and written words and transforming them into visuals can help tell a valuable environmental health story, and enhance the visibility and understanding of complex environmental health topics.  Images are attention grabbing pieces of “snackable” content which users can understand and engage with ease.  Images used in communication and marketing are far more likely to evoke emotional reactions in viewers and can portray information more efficiently than text (Pollard, 2016). Certainly, visuals are essential to telling the environmental health story.  With this in mind, this presentation will address:

• The need for visual education in environmental health  
• Using infographics, web cards, icons and other types of visual art to enhance understanding of complex environmental health topics
• Tactical considerations and operations: tools/techniques
• Creating content with low/no budget
• Reaching diverse audiences
• How to measure success

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Assuring effectiveness of environmental health visuals is essential.  This presentation will showcase an example of building assessment into the development of visuals including reach, quality and impact results.  This session will review approaches to evaluation and results of visual content in social media, marketing and communications, including:

• Pilot testing
• Driving positive action
• Community engagement / Influencers

Conclusions:  Using visuals in education, communication and marketing of environmental health is essential in engaging audiences to be change agents in environmental aspects of community behavior and health practice. 

Implications for research and/or practice:  Utilizing engaging and appealing visuals in environmental health education and outreach can maximize limited resources, generate audience interest and target appropriate health community policy and behavior change.