To Dr. Doak's point below, the US Administration on Aging has a large
multi-media photo gallery of older adults engaged in a variety of
activities at: http://www.aoa.gov/press/multimedia/multimedia.asp
<http://www.aoa.gov/press/multimedia/multimedia.asp> .
 
Also, also we took our own digital photographs for a nutrition and
physical activity campaign for older adults at local senior centers.
The main cost was staff time, since we used our own talent. 
 
Kay Loughrey
US Administration on Aging.

________________________________

From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Lendoak at aol.com
Sent: Monday, January 08, 2007 5:41 PM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy 543] Opening comments on pictures


Dear colleagues and friends,
 
We thank you Julie for the opportunity to discuss ideas and research on
using pictures in education; especially health education.  We (Ceci and
Len) are honored to share this task with Dr. Peter Houts.
 
Our thanks also go to those who took the time to write about problems,
questions and concerns on using more pictures with instructions.  And
for those who have already offered helpful suggestions and information
sources, we thank you.
 
A brief preamble:
 
There may be three parts to a health care instruction:  1) the words
(spoken or written), 2) picture captions, and 3) pictures and demos.
These apply to verbal and print instructions, to web sites, and partly
to video.  During this week, we'll discuss pictures and also their
integration into the communication as a "package".
 
To carry the preamble a bit further, let's consider the particular
characteristics of  the reading habits of poor readers which can affect
the learning potential from visuals. There are four we can consider:  1)
their eyes wander about the page without finding the central focus of
the visual; 2) skip over principal features; 3) eyes may focus on a
detail such as the color of nail polish on a finger using a syringe or
an A frame house in the background; 4) slow to interpret perceptual
information and interpret the visual literally.  (our book 1996, p.. 93)
 
We plan to address each of the issues you raised last week.  We have
some specifics about how to "think visually" as well as addressing some
of the characteristics described above.  This is such an exciting topic
and we are delighted to be a part of sharing concerns and experiences. 
 
The comments and questions seemed to fall into 3 groups: 1)Resources and
availability of visuals, 2) Competing with the market place, 3) Thinking
visually; lack of personal artistic ability.  We and Peter will address
these during the week.  We encourage and welcome your feedback during
the process.
 
Our responses to comments:
 
A key concern is the availability of free or non-copyright, appropriate
pictures.  (Appropriate for topics, genders, age, culture, etc.)
 
OUR COMMENTS:  Several respondents last week already offered suggestions
for sources for visuals, and nearly all government agencies have
pictures included in instructions that can be used without cost.  These
can be obtained by websites, from brochures and videos, and by
contacting the agency.  But these do take time to ferret out.
 
Suppose you are assigned to write a summary two page instruction, to
give to asthma patients at your medical center, on key points of how and
when to use their inhaler. The schedule allows you a week during your
"free" time. This topic fairly cries out for the messages to include
pictures.   We suggest that if you can't find suitable visuals that you
buy them, and according to your specification. (Later this week we will
offer a spec sheet format to help you define and buy the visuals you
want.   We believe that Dr. Houts will offer comments on how to buy
pictures, their potentially very low cost, and short turn around time to
get them.)
 
We'll elaborate on this in the coming days.
 
best wishes,
 
Ceci and Len Doak
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