Attention! This report is well designed.

Caribbean health reports contain statistics that can change your life. But there is another related statistic we don’t hear much about, and that’s how many people read health reports. I’d like to know that. And I’d like to know too, how many non-specialists read them?

But why should that interest me? Well, if plenty people read health reports that would mean the following: it reaches them wherever they are, it’s easy to read, and it holds their attention. This will be a good thing for the reporting government or health service, because the purpose of the report in the first place, is to make the facts known. And if these show dangerous health trends, as they often do, engaged readers would notice, which will plant the seeds of behaviour change.

Readers who find a report persuasive are bound to share the wisdom with people they care about, or those who might be taking too many health risks. If few people read it, then it’s not connecting and it’s unlikely to make an impact. I have a feeling the latter is the case.

Look at this recent statistic. For Trinidad and Tobago, childhood obesity went from 5% in 2001 and skyrocketed to 26% in 2010. Honestly, that’s more important for the world to know than how much lipstick Ms. Jenner sells. So the lesson here is, just like Ms. Jenner’s persuasive branding, our health reports must grab your attention and be accessible, friendlier and inviting. Inviting is important because no government or health organization can tackle these problems alone.

There really is everything to gain if health reports are designed to make life-changing impacts on teachers, mechanics, pilots and gardeners, in the same way that CNN or BBC would impact them. Without any effort at all, readers should get a vivid picture of how big and dangerous 26% obesity is for children. It just can’t all be jargon, numbers, graphs and pie charts; many people find this tedious.

Just look at the millions of people who read short informative articles on WebMD and Mayo Clinic every day. Most of the time they’re trying to figure out what their symptoms mean, or those of kids, mum or dad. But often, and I count myself in this lot, we end up reading much more than we searched for just because information is so easy to get and always interesting; you get hooked by design. These sites pay designers good money to understand and predict what will attract you, and, what will make you click.

Caribbean health experts need to start thinking like this. Although they might all be very smart and famous for health and wellness expertise, nobody, but other experts, would look twice if the information in their documents are dull, boring, clichéd or ugly. It does not matter if the information would save the world.

We recently read a health report loaded with life saving information. But the language will not invite a wide audience. Here is a sample sentence, “To create incentives to discourage unhealthy consumption patterns and to encourage healthier dietary choices.” How about if they wrote, “To make it very easy for healthy and delicious food to become a habit and for unhealthy food to be avoided.”

I know health experts love to have evidence. So here is some evidence. The Wellcome Collection in London is an exceptional example of how to consistently produce beautiful, persuasive and inspiring health stories through collaborations with artists, designers, writers and scientists. Health science that is beautifully presented moves much more people than dry, affected jargon. To follow Wellcome’s lead is to make your health information go a long way in saving the world. Here’s the link - https://wellcomecollection.org

Beautiful Catalogue from the Wellcome Collection, London

Back cover of Ayurvedic Man catalogue. Wellcome Collection, London

Two photos are from the catalogue of the recent exhibition ‘Ayurvedic Man’ that was held at the Wellcome Collection, London. This catalogue is a Wellcome Collection publication.