COMPARISON OF BROCHURES WITH BLACK AND WHITE OR COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS IN PRESENTING NUTRITION INFORMATION TO FOOD SERVICE WORKERS IN NURSING HOMES.
Contributors: Pennsylvania State University.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 321
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nutrition.; Health Sciences, Education.
Description: This study examined the effect of adding color to illustrations presented with written nutrition messages. Three short nutrition brochures were prepared to address functions and food sources of specific vitamins. Simple line drawings of food accompanied the text. Brochures with illustrations printed in either black on white, one color, or four colors were compared in terms of the extent to which they were read and judged to be interesting and useful by nursing home food service workers. The influence of brochure type (black and white, one color, or four color illustrations) on subjects' nutrition knowledge and attitudes was also compared. In addition, data on selected personal characteristics were collected and examined to determine if they influenced subjects' responses to the different types of brochures.

The study employed a pretest/posttest delayed treatment control group design. Nursing homes recruited for the study were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental groups (control, black and white, one color, or four colors). The investigator visited each facility twice: initially to recruit subjects and to administer the pretest and two to three weeks later to administer the posttest. In the interim between pre- and posttest, subjects in all but the control group were sent via U.S. mail a set of three nutrition brochures. The brochures sent to each group differed only in the color of the illustrations.

Both recruitment and retention rates were high with 98.8% of the potential subjects attending the initial session and 81.7% of these subjects completing the study. All subjects in the treatment groups recalled receiving the nutrition brochures. Regardless of subjects' personal characteristics, the extent to which they read the brochures or rated the interest level and usefulness of the information presented did not vary significantly according to the type of brochure received. Knowledge and attitude postscores did not differ significantly among the four experimental groups. In conclusion, under the conditions of this study and with this group of subjects, color added to illustrations in these brochures did not significantly influence the way people reacted to the educational materials.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-07, Section: B, page: 2573.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1988.

School code: 0176.