Navigating health literacy using interactive data visualisation

Abstract

It is commonly concluded that health literacy focuses on individual skills to obtain, process and understand health information and services necessary to make appropriate health decisions. To achieve this, an individual first needs to obtain an adequate level of health literacy. However, nowadays, the information that individuals encounter with regards to their health, the amount, credibility and quality of the data make it difficult for one to make judgments on their health and disease progression, let alone make informed decisions on behaviour change. In this paper, we will report our work in providing patients with efficient ways to explore and understand the relevant health literacy. We focus on two data types: 1) harvested medical evidence from PubMed on cardiorenal disease and its comorbidities, 2) data collected from patients including from PHR and wearable sensors. Our work provides ways for patients to visualise this data meaningfully. Our work aims to improve the health literacy for the general public and increase the population's understanding of the medical field, thus helping users to make informed decision with regards to their care.