Helping patients and healthcare providers understand the various dimensions of a condition is something those of us in healthcare communications can struggle with. Each aspect of a disease definition—from symptoms to diagnosis to treatment—can have multiple layers of complexity. Helping our audiences navigate these layers is a critical aspect of how we approach our projects.
One way to address the challenge is through the development of a visual “map” of a condition using a straightforward and branching taxonomy. The diagram below comes from Healthline.com, an online learning resource for patients. The site uses these health maps for many of the diseases they cover. The stark simplicity and clarity they provide is refreshing.
In addition to single diseases, these maps can also be used to show similarities and link together related diseases. The web offers a number of techniques for displaying and “scaling” visual healthcare data—look for more applications like this in the near future.
At first glance, health maps may seem almost too simplistic, but from a patient’s perspective this type of information display can provide a useful overview of a condition and help quickly locate useful content.
-Ben
