The Power of Graphic Medicine in Public Health

The Power of Graphic Medicine in Public Health

Comics have been used for public health purposes for decades. From outreach programs during the AIDS crisis to global health initiatives, the visual vocabulary of images, expository text, dialogue, and sequenced panels can clearly and economically convey complex public health information. Beyond didactic educational comics, public health comics are taking more narrative form, including comics journalism, comics about public health history, and stories about people impacted by public health issues. Comics can harness emotion and empathy through its unique storytelling elements, which are needed to tackle big picture issues about what makes populations and communities healthy.

Graphic medicine is a form of comics that tells personal stories of illness and health. The combined language of words and pictures gives approachability and emotional impact to these personal stories, and even to the clinical data they sometimes include. Personal memoirs by caregivers show the emotional and logistical complexities that stem from the diverse relationships, roles, and perspectives. Infographics of specific clinical information can be folded seamlessly into a story, expanding on the author’s subjective experiences. Drawing and creating comics have also been used to facilitate communication between patients and providers and as a form of art therapy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has opened up the field of graphic medicine to a diversity of views and narratives, especially given that the loss of life and livelihood has disproportionately affected Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Reading graphic medicine comics can be cathartic to many patients, allowing them to simultaneously identify with the comic creator and distance themselves enough from the experience to allow themselves a different take or perspective on their own experience. They can also be extremely helpful to healthcare providers and caregivers, allowing them a window into patients’ inner worlds of suffering and resilience and creating room for greater empathy.

Graphic Medicine has consecrated a canon that centers predominantly white, middle-class narratives, and the field, in general, has been dominated by these narratives. However, the fact that the pandemic coincided with (or enabled) the so-called racial reckoning of the summer of 2020 has meant that many of the BIPOC comics about COVID that we’ve seen recently have tended to highlight some of the racial, social, and political aspects of the pandemic, as opposed to focusing primarily on the purely medical aspects. This is a welcome influence in the field of graphic medicine that will reshape the field in interesting ways in years to come.

In conclusion, graphic medicine is a powerful tool in public health and medicine. Comics can convey complex public health information while harnessing emotion and empathy through storytelling elements. Graphic medicine can also provide a unique perspective on personal experiences of illness and health, allowing patients, healthcare providers, and caregivers to connect on a deeper level. As the field of graphic medicine continues to evolve, it is important to center diverse narratives and perspectives to better serve all communities.