Editor’s note:
In “Closing the Gap: How a Church-Hospital Partnership is Reducing Hypertension on Chicago’s West Side,” Josh Neufeld uses the form of comics journalism to highlight a recent research article published in the journal Prevention Science. The comic draws on the article itself along with additional sources — including Zoom interviews with Elizabeth B. Lynch, LaDawne Jenkins, Steve Epting Sr., Teresa Berumen and Anthony Hixson.
Those five people are characters in the comic, which describes an innovative community health worker intervention aimed at reducing blood pressure among the congregants of several area churches.
Neufeld uses subtle coloring techniques for journalistic clarity. The characters’ speech balloon quotes that are shaded in light pink come directly and exactly from their interviews with Neufeld. The white speech balloons represent indirect quotes – such as when a primary source recalled what another person said during a community health visit. The text in yellow caption boxes represents Neufeld’s own narrative.
This piece adds to the growing field of graphic medicine, which uses comics as a tool to tell true stories about health care experiences, as well as to distill and discuss complex medical topics.
Neufeld is the creator of several graphic medicine comics, including “Vaccinated at the Ball: A True Story about Trusted Messengers,” which won the 2023 GMIC Award for Excellence in Graphic Medicine, Short Form, from the Graphic Medicine International Collective.
Sources:
“Heart 2 Heart: Pilot Study” of a Church-Based Community Health Worker Intervention for African Americans with Hypertension.” Elizabeth B. Lynch, Christy Tangey, Todd Roppar, Laura Zimmerman, Joselyn Williams, LaDawne Jenkins, Steve M. Epting, Elizabeth Avery, Tamara Olinger, Teresa Berumen, Maggie Skoller and Rebecca Wornhoff. Prevention Science, July 2023.
“State of Health for Blacks in Chicago.” Blair Aikens, Dana Harper, Rachelle Paul-Brutus, Donna Scrutchins and Yaa Simpson. Chicago Department of Public Health, June 2021.
“Partnering with Churches to Conduct a Wide‐Scale Health Screening of an Urban Segregated Community.” Elizabeth B. Lynch, Joselyn William, Elizabeth Avery, Melissa M. Crane, Brittney Lange‐Maia, Christy Tangney, LaDawne Jenkins, Sheila A. Dugan, Erin E. Emery‐Tiburcio, and Steve M. Epting. Journal of Community Health, February 2020.
“Rationale and Design of the Heart-to-Heart Study: A Church-based Intervention to Reduce Blood Pressure in African Americans.” Yolanda Cartwright, Christy Tangney, Todd Ruppar, Steve M. Epting, LaDawne Jenkins, Wrenetha Julion, Steve Rothschild, Laura Zimmermann, Elizabeth Avery, Tami Olinger, Sumihiro Suzuki and Elizabeth B. Lynch. Contemporary Clinical Trials, July 2023.
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