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Multimedia learning research has shown that presenting the same words as spoken text and as written text to accompany graphical information hinders learning (i.e., redundancy effect). However, recent work showed that a "condensed" form of written text (i.e., on-screen labels) that overlaps with the spoken text, and thus is only partially redundant, can actually foster learning. This study extends this line of research by focusing on the usefulness of on-screen labels in an animation explaining a procedural task (i.e., first-aid procedure). The experiment had a 2x2x2 between-subject design (N = 129) with the factors spoken text (yes vs. no), written text (yes vs. no), and on-screen labels (yes vs. no). Learning outcomes were measured as retention accuracy and behavioral performance accuracy. Results showed that on-screen labels improved retention accuracy (but not behavioral performance accuracy) of the procedure, especially when presented together with spoken text. So, on-screen labels appear to be promising for learning from procedural animations.

Introduction Correct interpretation of drug labels instructions (DLIs) is needed for safe use and better adherence to prescribed drugs. DLIs are often too difficult for patients, especially for those with limited health literacy. What is yet unknown, is how specific textual elements in DLIs (e.g., the presentation of numbers, or use of medical jargon) and patients’ health literacy skills are related to the comprehension of DLIs. In order to provide concrete directions for health professionals on how to optimize drug prescriptions, we performed a systematic review to summarize the available research findings on which textual elements facilitate or hinder the correct interpretation of DLIs in relation to patients’ health literacy. Method A systematic search was performed in PubMed, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and Smartcat (until April 2019) to identify studies investigating textual elements that facilitate or hinder the correct interpretation of DLIs in relation to patients’ health literacy. Results A total of 434 studies were identified of which 28 studies met our inclusion criteria. We found that textual elements contributing to the correct interpretation of DLIs were: using explicit time periods in dosage instructions, using plain language, presenting numbers in a numerical format, and providing DLIs in patients’ native language. Multistep instructions per instruction line, using abbreviations and medical jargon seem to hinder the correct interpretation of DLIs. Although health literacy was taken into account in a majority of the studies, none of them assessed the effectiveness of specific textual elements on patients’ comprehensibility of DLIs. Conclusion Based on our findings, we provide an overview of textual elements that contribute to the correct interpretation of DLIs. Optimizing the textual instruction on drug labels may increase the safety and adherence to prescribed drugs, taking into account that a significant proportion of patients has low health literacy.

This article considers co-creation as a new persuasive strategy in health campaigns. Co-creation enables target audience members to become active campaign producers. A recent Dutch anti-smoking campaign applied co-creation, inviting the target audience to complete the slogan "smoking is sóóó . . . " with something outdated on social networking sites (SNSs) like Facebook and Twitter to stress non-smoking as the new social norm. From a corpus-linguistic perspective, we investigated how the slogans from the target audience resonated with or deviated from the campaign's original message. In general, the target audience slogans followed the campaign's approach, but on the SNSs, differences were found regarding the valence, type of utterance, and domain to which smoking was compared. The target audience frequently compared smoking with other (inter)personal social norms. Co-creation thus provides the target audience with an opportunity to disseminate campaign messages from their own perspective, but at the same time a co-creation strategy risks diluting the intended campaign message.