| Course | HLTH 4380 Strategies for Health Communication and Wellness |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Infographic rationale |
| Length | About 790 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | BS in Public Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HLTH 4380 Week 8
A Three-Panel Decision Path for the Adult Child at the Cabinet: The Labeled Sketch, Then a Rationale for Its Reading Order, Captioned Icons, One Accent Color and the Chart It Declined to Include
Student Name
Walden University
HLTH 4380: Strategies for Health Communication and Wellness
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
A Three-Panel Decision Path for the Adult Child at the Cabinet: The Labeled Sketch, Then a Rationale for Its Reading Order, Captioned Icons, One Accent Color and the Chart It Declined to Include
Part 1: The Sketch, Described Zone by Zone
The graphic is a portrait page divided into three stacked panels, read top to bottom. It is a sketch for review, not finished artwork, so each zone is described by its content and purpose.
Header zone: a full-width line of text reading "Packing up a parent's medicine cabinet? Three questions, top to bottom." Purpose: tells the reader how to read the page before the first panel.
Panel 1, "Does it go?": a row of four captioned icons, a pill bottle labeled "prescription pills," a box labeled "over-the-counter medicines," a crossed-out syringe labeled "not needles" and a crossed-out inhaler labeled "ask first: inhalers and liquids." Purpose: sorts what the drop box takes before the reader leaves the house.
Panel 2, "Is a drop box near?": a phone icon showing a map search bar with the words "drug disposal near me," and beside it a drop-box icon labeled "often inside a pharmacy." A single arrow in the accent color runs from the phone to the box. Purpose: gives the lookup route and the action.
Panel 3, "No drop box nearby?": three small numbered drawings, a hand pouring pills into coffee grounds, a sealed bag and a trash can, each captioned in four words or fewer, with a one-line note: "A few strong pain medicines go on the FDA flush list instead." Purpose: the fallback, drawn so it is visibly secondary.
Footer zone: "Black out the name on every label" in the accent color, and a source line naming the Food and Drug Administration.
Part 2: The Rationale
Reading Order
The panels follow the order of the decisions the reader faces at the shelf: whether an item belongs, where it goes and what to do if the first answer fails. A top-to-bottom stack suits a portrait page that may be printed for a folder or viewed on a phone, where side-by-side columns would shrink. The header states the reading order in words so no reader has to infer it from the layout.
Icons
Icons are few, eight in all, and each has a caption. Houts et al. (2006) found that pictures help most when closely linked to text and when distracting detail is kept out, and they recommend simple language beside every picture. Arcia et al. (2016), working with community members of varying health literacy, found that viewers sometimes read icons in a rigidly literal way; repeated icons meant to stand for a general class were misread. For that reason the graphic never uses one pill icon to mean "all medicines." Each icon names the specific thing it shows, and the two crossed-out icons are spelled out in words as well.
One Accent Color
One accent color, a deep teal, marks the action in each panel: the arrow to the drop box, the step numbers in the fallback and the footer instruction to black out the name. It appears nowhere else. When color carries meaning only once per panel, the eye can find the action quickly. Text over the accent color is white and large enough to meet the contrast guidance in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (World Wide Web Consortium, 2023), and nothing depends on color alone, since every colored element also has words.
Type Size
All text is at least the size of the folder insert's body text, and the panel questions are the largest type on the page after the header. The reader's questions should be the first thing seen in each panel.
The Chart It Declined to Include
An early draft included a bar chart showing that most surgical patients have leftover opioids, from the systematic review by Bicket et al. (2017), where leftover opioids were reported by 67% to 92% of patients across six studies. The chart was cut. It answers a question the reader is not asking at the cabinet: she already has the bottles in front of her. A chart would take up a full panel, push the fallback below the fold on a phone and add numbers that the CDC Clear Communication Index would then require the graphic to explain (Baur & Prue, 2014). The statistic belongs in the media pitch, where a reporter needs a reason the story matters.
What Remains Uncertain
Two choices need testing. The crossed-out inhaler is labeled "ask first," not "no," because practices vary between collection sites; readers may find that ambiguous. And the flush list note may raise a question the graphic cannot answer in one line, so the source line should lead to the FDA page that lists the medicines.
References
Arcia, A., Suero-Tejeda, N., Bales, M. E., Merrill, J. A., Yoon, S., Woollen, J., & Bakken, S. (2016). Sometimes more is more: Iterative participatory design of infographics for engagement of community members with varying levels of health literacy. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 23(1), 174-183. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocv079
Baur, C., & Prue, C. (2014). The CDC Clear Communication Index is a new evidence-based tool to prepare and review health information. Health Promotion Practice, 15(5), 629-637. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839914538969
Bicket, M. C., Long, J. J., Pronovost, P. J., Alexander, G. C., & Wu, C. L. (2017). Prescription opioid analgesics commonly unused after surgery: A systematic review. JAMA Surgery, 152(11), 1066-1071. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2017.0831
Houts, P. S., Doak, C. C., Doak, L. G., & Loscalzo, M. J. (2006). The role of pictures in improving health communication: A review of research on attention, comprehension, recall, and adherence. Patient Education and Counseling, 61(2), 173-190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2005.05.004
World Wide Web Consortium. (2023). Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2. https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/
The Walden HLTH 4380 Week 8 instructions
The eighth week typically asks students to plan an infographic and justify its design rather than produce polished artwork. A labeled sketch is expected, with each zone identified by what it contains and what it is for. The rationale then explains major choices: reading order, the use and captioning of icons, color, type and any data display. Instructors want reasons grounded in the audience's task and in research on visual health communication, not personal taste. Many prompts ask students to defend something they chose to leave out, since graphics often carry charts that do not serve the reader. Accessibility, including color contrast and not relying on color alone, should be addressed. Students may also note design choices that need testing with readers. Sources usually include research on pictures and comprehension and an accessibility standard. Professional design software is not required.
How the HLTH 4380 Week 8 example is put together
The paper begins with the sketch described zone by zone: a header that tells the reader how to read the page, three panels and a footer. Panel 1 sorts items with four captioned icons, two crossed out. Panel 2 shows a phone map search and a drop box joined by the only accent-colored arrow. Panel 3 draws the trash method in three numbered steps and adds a one-line note about the flush list. The rationale explains the top-to-bottom order as the order of decisions at the shelf, then defends captioned, specific icons using the Houts review and the literal-reading finding from the participatory design study. The color section limits teal to the action and addresses contrast and color-only meaning. A type section ranks the panel questions. The omission section explains why the opioid chart was cut and where the figure belongs instead. A final section names two choices for testing.
Where the marks sit in the HLTH 4380 Week 8 rubric
Grading of an infographic rationale generally turns on the sketch's clarity, the strength of the reasoning and the handling of accessibility. The sketch earns credit when every zone is labeled with content and purpose so a reader can picture the page. Reasoning is judged on whether each design choice is tied to the reader's task or to evidence; "it looks clean" earns little. Icon decisions are a common focus, and citing research on how audiences interpret icons strengthens the argument. Color choices should be functional and accessible, with nothing conveyed by color alone. A defended omission tends to carry real weight, since it proves the designer weighed the data against the reader's need. Naming uncertain choices for testing demonstrates professional humility. Mechanics include APA entries for a journal article with seven authors and an accessibility standard from W3C.
HLTH 4380 Week 8 help: mistakes that cost marks
Infographic assignments often go wrong when students start with the data and build a graphic around it. The reader's decision should come first, and data appears only if it helps that decision. Another frequent problem is decorative icons without captions, which some viewers misread. Students also use several bright colors, so nothing stands out. Before submitting, describe each zone of your sketch in one sentence of content and one of purpose. Caption every icon with words. Choose a single accent color and use it only for the action. Check that nothing depends on color alone. Write a paragraph defending something you cut. List one or two choices you would test with readers. If your section assigned a different topic, such as a heat illness warning for outdoor workers, a custom sketch and rationale can follow the same structure.
Get a HLTH 4380 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Include your prompt and rubric and say whether the section wants a sketch, a wireframe or finished artwork; the layout and its rationale follow that choice. The opening request is free of charge and turned around in 24 to 48 hours. The graphic is described in words and labeled zones, and no stock imagery or agency artwork is reproduced.
More HLTH 4380 papers and BS in Public Health samples
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- HLTH 4380 Week 3: Readability Revision Brief
- HLTH 4380 Week 4: Fact Sheet Draft Example
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- HLTH 4380 Week 9: Media Pitch Example
- HLTH 4380 Week 10: Message Testing Memo
- HLTH 4380 Week 11: Campaign Portfolio Example
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HLTH 4380 Week 8 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HLTH 4380 Week 8 sample paper?
The full Week 8 infographic rationale, with a zone-by-zone sketch of a three-panel decision path and five references, is published here with notes on each design choice.
What are the three panels in the HLTH 4380 Week 8 example?
Does it go, which sorts what a drop box takes; is a drop box near, with the map search; and no drop box nearby, which shows the FDA trash method as a fallback.
Why are all the icons captioned?
Research with community members found that some viewers interpret icons literally, so every icon names the specific item it shows, and captions link pictures closely to text.
Why does the graphic use only one accent color?
One color marking only the action in each panel lets the eye find what to do quickly, and every colored element also has words so nothing relies on color alone.
Why was the opioid chart left out?
The reader already has the bottles in front of her, so the chart answers a question she is not asking and would take a full panel; the figure is kept for the media pitch.