Data Storyteller

Having rapid access to data in health centers is critical to managing clinics, using operational data to improve care, and reporting quality measures. Quality, accessible data in health care can do more than feature in reports and accountability systems: effective communication of information can improve quality of care, alignment to evidence-based care principles, and data-informed decision making. Charts, graphs, maps, and other data visualizations play a key role in making information accessible. Visualizations make the patterns in large datasets rapidly apparent, showing when numbers are going up or down, performance compared to goals, comparison between patient groups, and more. The purpose of this resource is to provide a comprehensive guide to user-centered dashboard design for health center staff.

So, you’re not a statistician? Not a data scientist either? Great! This webinar series is for the data creators, data generators, data users, data reviewers, and others who work with their health center data each day. If you’re a data lover and you know the information you have in your health center has an important story to tell, this series will provide you with the tools and techniques to create and share insights that will drive genuine change in your health center. Fostering a data-driven culture links directly to improvements in patient care, staff and provider satisfaction, and business imperatives, allowing us to make meaning out of our daily data demands.

Session 1 - Beyond the Bar Chart: Blending Data and Storytelling

Looking up articles about communicating data, you're likely to find many reflections on how to tell stories with data when crafting data visualizations. Effectively blending data, visualization, and storytelling together can take many different formats though depending on your audience and your goal. During this workshop, you'll learn about the research behind why stories can make information more memorable, how to balance data and narrative in different contexts, and some of the sticky challenges we face as designers when incorporating storytelling in the context of healthcare where privacy, ethical representation of the people behind the numbers, and issues of misinformation are critical considerations. We'll walk through practical examples of how to tell 'short stories' through annotations and headlines and larger endeavors of blending individual stories like qualitative interview data with quantitative visualizations. You'll leave with ideas you can apply in your own efforts communicating data and recommended resources for exploring the intersection of data and storytelling.