ArticlePharmacy practice
Redesigning pictographs for patients with low health literacy and establishing preliminary steps for delivery via smart phones.
Article in Pharmacy practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Enhancing sexual and reproductive health decision-making skills in underserved communities in Ghana: A quasi-experimental study.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Evidence-based complementary feeding recipe book for Kenyan caregivers: A novel approach.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Developing a Digital Medication Adherence Intervention for and With Patients With Asthma and Low Health Literacy: Protocol for a Participatory Design Approach.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Pharmaceutical indication pictograms for low literacy viewers: Health literacy and comprehension.Health SA = SA Gesondheid · 2023Article
- The evaluation of pharmaceutical pictograms among elderly patients in community pharmacy settings - a multicenter pilot study.Patient preference and adherence · 2018Article
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8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPictographs (or pictograms) have been widely utilized to convey medication related messages and to address nonadherence among patients with low health literacy. Yet, patients do not always interpret the intended messages on commonly used pictographs correctly and there are questions how they may be delivered on mobile devices.
objectiveOur objectives are to refine a set of pictographs to use as medication reminders and to establish preliminary steps for delivery via smart phones.
methodsCard sorting was used to identify existing pictographs that focus group members found "not easy" to understand. Participants then explored improvements to these pictographs while iterations were sketched in real-time by a graphic artist. Feedback was also solicited on how selected pictographs might be delivered via smart phones in a sequential reminder message. The study was conducted at a community learning center that provides literacy services to underserved populations in Seattle, WA. Participants aged 18 years and older who met the criteria for low health literacy using S-TOFHLA were recruited.
resultsAmong the 45 participants screened for health literacy, 29 were eligible and consented to participate. Across four focus group sessions, participants examined 91 commonly used pictographs, 20 of these were ultimately refined to improve comprehensibility using participatory design approaches. All participants in the fifth focus group owned and used cell phones and provided feedback on preferred sequencing of pictographs to represent medication messages.
conclusionLow literacy adults found a substantial number of common medication label pictographs difficult to understand. Participative design processes helped generate new pictographs, as well as feedback on the sequencing of messages on cell phones, that may be evaluated in future research.
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