IEEE VIS 2024 Content: "Must Be a Tuesday": Affect, Attribution, and Geographic Variability in Equity-Oriented Visualizations of Population Health Disparities

"Must Be a Tuesday": Affect, Attribution, and Geographic Variability in Equity-Oriented Visualizations of Population Health Disparities

Eli Holder - 3iap, Raleigh, United States

Lace M. Padilla - Northeastern University, Boston, United States. University of California Merced, Merced, United States

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Exemplar figure, described by caption below
Bars and geography-emphasized chart (geo-emph) showing crude mortality rates for heart disease. The geo-emph chart includes the same overall mortality rates but uses annotations and jitter dots of U.S. states to emphasize within-group differences.
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Keywords

Health Equity, Public Health Communication

Abstract

This study examines the impacts of public health communications visualizing risk disparities between racial and other social groups. It compares the effects of traditional bar charts to an alternative design emphasizing geographic variability with differing annotations and jitter plots. Whereas both visualization designs increased perceived vulnerability, behavioral intent, and policy support, the geo-emphasized charts were significantly more effective in reducing personal attribution biases. The findings also reveal emotionally taxing experiences for chart viewers from marginalized communities. This work suggests a need for strategic reevaluation of visual communication tools in public health to enhance understanding and engagement without reinforcing stereotypes or emotional distress.