A Scale Development for Visual Literacy on Health Students and Professionals

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Professions Education
• Visual Communication

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial in clinical and healthcare settings.
• A lack of valid and reliable measures for visual literacy in healthcare exists.
• Visual literacy skills are essential for health students and professionals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a visual literacy scale for health students and professionals.
• To provide a tool for educators to assess and improve visual literacy.
• To enhance effective communication in clinical and healthcare environments.

Main Methods:

• Scale development followed a three-phase process.
• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were used.
• Psychometric properties including reliability and validity were examined on 767 participants.

Main Results:

• The Visual Literacy Scale for Health Students and Professionals (VLS-HSP) was developed.
• EFA identified three factors: "allegorical meaning," "explicit meaning," and "symbolic meaning."
• CFA validated a 22-item scale with good psychometric properties and reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.90).

Conclusions:

• The VLS-HSP is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing visual literacy.
• The scale can be used to measure visual literacy in health students and professionals.
• The VLS-HSP supports the development of essential communication skills in healthcare.