Participatory design in health communiction

Neuhauser, Linda. “Participatory Design for Better Interactive Health Communication: A Statewide Model in the USA.” The Electronic Journal of Communucation 11, no 3 and 4(2001). http://www.cios.org/EJCPUBLIC/011/3/01134.html (accessed March 21, 2011).

This journal article describes how families and people with disabilities worked with the state of California to create a hard-copy and online wellness guides. The state identified three primary goals for the health information. It must
-have content relevant for people with diabilities
-connect the user with local services
-be accessible to users with diabilities, 6th grade literacy levels, and those who read Spanish.

The hard-copy materials were developed first, with the websites following 10 years later. The website took 4 years to produce. The state took great care to find a representative sample of end users, including parents in the correctional system. Hundreds of people with diabilities were also involved in the design of the print and online guides, which marked a departure from the previous process. In the past, people with disabilities weren't considered "typical" users of materials, and were excluded from the design process. All too often, content is developed for a specific culture or language, and the organization forgets about the unique needs of people with disabilities, who represent every culture and language possible. It is heartening to see the inclusion of this often-marginalized group in this particular design process.

While the content developed for the state of California aren't as relevant to my research question, this article offers a tremendous amount of information regarding the history of participatory design and why it is an effective way to create information for a specific audience. Neuhauser even states that when people help organizations design health information, it positively impacts their health. Participation increases self-control and self-efficacy. Perceived sense of self-control is noted as a variable that is closely linked to health status. A high sense of self-control is linked with better health.

Neuhauser links participatory design to accessibility, usability and participatory action research. Remote She also provides a long bibliography and a number of related websites that are very helpful for someone seeking to learn more about participatory design and related methods.