Statistics in Epidemiology: Communication Is the Key to Success

• Activity Number: 390
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Tuesday, August 5, 2014 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Section on Statistics in Epidemiology
• Author(s): Jason H. Moore*+ and Nicole Valentine*+ and Ann Zauber*+ and Gouke Bonsel*+
• Companies: Dartmouth and WHO and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Erasmus University Medical Center
• Keywords: epidemiology ; data ; visualization ; visual analytics ; healthcare evaluation ; communication

Abstract

Statistics in epidemiology can serve as a goal itself but can also serve as a means to create awareness among policymakers. An important part of this is effectively communicating the statistics to not only these policymakers but also, e.g., healthcare personnel and lay audiences. In this session we will discuss some examples of effective communication of statistics in epidemiology and provide some tips and tricks that will assist in effectively creating awareness of your study results, and more importantly, awareness that might eventually lead to healthcare practice improvements and possibly future funding. Through speakers' personal experiences the aim will be to provide an overview of strategies for success. We will review experiences from speakers depicting different viewpoints ranging from international comparison of health systems' responsiveness, and information visualization methods to research and policy in Dutch perinatal care and informing policymakers on optimal models for cancer screening in the US.