Interdisciplinary collaboration and digital dissemination of health posters in Sub-Saharan Africa: Supporting SDG 4 and SDG 8

Abstract

Medical posters, also known as health posters, are a visible part of institutional health communication. They support face-to-face interactions between healthcare workers and patients, offering public access to health information beyond the confines of private consultations. In multilingual and low-literacy societies across Sub-Saharan Africa, these multimodal texts play a crucial role in health education. This study adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining surreptitious observational and ethnographic sampling of 130 posters in public spaces (hospitals, airports, markets, and government offices) with analysis of previous quantitative findings. This mixed-methods study examines how health posters are designed and displayed in the Nigeria and Ghana landscape. While previous statistical findings show that 87% of respondents rely on health posters to improve their health, many posters are poorly designed: they are wordy, grammatically incorrect (for example, "after 2 week"), placed in dimly lit or obscure areas, or buried under overlapping notices. These flaws make them difficult to read and undermine their purpose. The study highlights a lack of collaboration between health professionals, linguists, communicators and designers in the production process. This affects clarity and misses an opportunity to create jobs for young people. By integrating expertise from different fields and embracing digital tools, health poster campaigns can become more effective and inclusive. Such efforts directly support Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (Quality Education) through informal learning and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) by generating employment in design, translation, and dissemination.