The similarities between developing research and making comics
When I read the below excerpt from Meredith Li-Vollmer's Graphic Public Health: A Comics Anthology and Road Map, it struck me how similar the process of creating a health literacy comic for a metropolitan health department is to conducting qualitative research: informed by evidence-based practice, focus groups and interviews, and including the revision process.
It made me realize that research and public health comics have a lot in common, and that the research I've conducted so far could benefit more from communicating its findings through accessible and visually appealing comics rather than recommendations published in scientific journals.
“Stay Safe in the Heat, one of the comics at the opening of the chapter, was designed as a mini-comic for specific communities of color a living in south King County, Washington. Research by the University of Washington’s Occupational and Environmental Health program indicated that proportionally, on hot days, more people from this largely immigrant communities came into emergency rooms suffering from cardiac arrest, kidney failure, and stroke. We worked with this UW program to develop a comic to create more awareness of these health impacts from heat, specific risk factors, and what people can do to prevent heat illness. Focus groups in the affected demographics helped us understand perceptions about health risks from hot weather and what practices specific communities use to keep cool. Community input and reference photos of people in the target communities also informed the development of the comic. The protective behaviors shown - such as drinking winter melon soup or carrying an umbrella for shade - came from community interviews. Community members also reviewed early drafts to make sure that the comic was appealing and contained clear key messages, accurate depictions, actionable tips, and quality translations.”
You can read the discussed comic below: Stay Safe in the Heat, written by Meredith Li-Vollmer, artwork by David Lasky, 2010.
