Using Civic Service Design Methods to Redevelop a Data Communication Website With a Health Literacy Lens.
Journal
Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP
ISSN: 1550-5022
Titre abrégé: J Public Health Manag Pract
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 9505213
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
11 Jul 2024
11 Jul 2024
Historique:
medline:
11
7
2024
pubmed:
11
7
2024
entrez:
11
7
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
Public health agencies routinely publish data in hopes that data influence public health policy and practice. However, data websites can often be difficult to use, posing barriers to people trying to access, understand, and use data. Working to make data websites easier to use can add value to public health data communication work. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) redesigned its Environment and Health Data Portal, a website used to communicate environmental health data, with the goal of making data more accessible and understandable to a broader audience. The DOHMH used Civic Service Design methods to establish priorities and strategies for the redesign work, to build a data communication website that emphasizes a high level of usability, and content that explains data. By following a Civic Service Design process, the DOHMH synthesized findings from health communications, data visualization and communication, and web usability to create an easy-to-use website with explanations of data and findings alongside datasets. On the new site, automated dataset visualizations are supplemented with narrative content, explanatory content, and custom interactive applications designed to explain data and findings. Web analytics showed that, in its first year of operation, the site's web traffic grew substantially, with the last 12 weeks recording weekly page views 150% higher than the first 12 weeks of operation (7185 average weekly page views compared with 2866 average weekly page views). Two-thirds (66.3%) of page views include recorded user engagement. Additional evaluations to measure specific aspects of usability compared with the previous version of the site are planned. By following a Civic Service Design process, the DOHMH redesigned a vital data communication platform to increase its usability and saw significant increase in engagement in its first year of operations. By designing data material with usability in mind, public health departments have the potential to improve public health data communication work.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38989883
doi: 10.1097/PHH.0000000000001912
pii: 00124784-990000000-00302
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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