Good Type

The Healthiest Typeface. A new study adds more support to the idea that the right font can help sway health behavior. atlantic

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Despite its small sample size, the paper is one more in a collection of studies pointing toward the same idea: When it comes to creating health information, it may be wise to consider style along with substance.

A 2008 study published in the journal Psychological Science, for example, found that people were generally more willing to incorporate an exercise routine into their daily schedules when they read the instructions in a clearer font.

In a 2007 study in the journal Annals of Pharmacotherapy, researchers from Harvard Medical School found that patients had a better understanding of how to take their prescription drugs, as well as benefits and possible side effects, when the labels included “larger fonts, lists, headers, and white space

And other studies have evaluated the readability of everything from instructions for asthma management to information for cancer patients to guidelines for oral health in kids, arguing that the visuals of health information directly affect how well people adhere to what they read.

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