Infographic Use Amongst Public Health Workers in Aotearoa, New Zealand

Abstract

Research problem: Infographics are a popular way to disseminate public health information, but they present many challenges in terms of search, retrieval, access, and storage. This research aimed to discover the challenges Auckland public health workers currently face in finding, disseminating, and storing infographics. Additionally, it critiques some popular online infographic sources and proposes a custom metadata schema for a potential future online repository for NZ health infographics.

Methodology: A survey was designed in Qualtrics and emailed out to 65 individuals and organisations across the Auckland public health sector. Numerical and framework analyses were conducted on the responses. Website and infographic critiques were conducted using Smith’s criteria (1997) and Stones and Gent’s guidelines (2017) for public health infographic design.

Results: The survey received 35 responses. 31 of these use infographics to inform themselves or others. 20 have created their own infographics. Only one had ever received training on infographic design/creation, and all 35 were interested in receiving training in the future. Infographics were disseminated largely via internal workplace networks and printed copies and stored mainly on personal or work devices. Barriers to use included lack of design skills, insufficient time and funding, and difficulty locating infographics online. 30 respondents expressed interest in accessing and/or contributing content to a future repository. Anticipated benefits of a future repository included better message dissemination, better access to existing and new content, time savings, and idea generation.

Implications: Building an online repository would be an excellent solution to the current problems of infographic access, dissemination, and storage, which would in turn enable valuable health information to reach broader audiences. Future research needs to be done on public health workers’ information-searching behaviour in order to best design the repository to meet their needs.