The doctoral work of Rui Tavares and Mireia Pagès, students in the Doctoral Program in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine at UC, were the starting point for this project.
The comic strip analyzed during this investigation was “A balanced liver is half the battle”, created by the same research team in partnership with the University Press in 2021. This object of study talks about the problems associated with fatty liver and metabolic diseases.
In the article “Comics in Science and Health Communication: Insights from Mutual Collaboration and Framing a research practice”, published in the International Journal of Qualitive Methods, the team explained the various phases of creating a comic.
Anabela Azul, one of the project coordinators, explains that a qualitative study was first carried out, a phase in which patients and some health professionals were interviewed and explained their experience with the disease.
The second phase is the illustrative part, where the story is created. At this stage, professionals from various areas were heard, such as psychology and sociology, so that there were different perspectives on the same topic.
Anabela Azul considers the use of comics for communication to be an asset, as “A picture is worth a thousand words”. The project supervisor also explains that this work brings challenges, as a word in different contexts can take on different meanings, which can lead to misunderstandings.
Regarding the future of this project, Anabela Azul intends to continue the discussion about comics in health communication.
The project supervisor recalls that this comic not only has clinical objectives, but also a didactic importance.
Photography: UC News
