Edit-a-thons on Human Communication Disorders and Health Promotion

Health-related articles are among the most frequently accessed content on Wikipedia. However, significant knowledge gaps persist in specialized fields. This challenge is particularly acute in non-English projects.

The scarcity of information on health determinants and human communication disorders constitutes a direct barrier to health promotion. Currently, both the general public and healthcare professionals face limited access to verifiable content in these specialized domains within the Wikimedia ecosystem.

Informational Barrier

This absence creates a direct barrier to health promotion. Both healthcare professionals and the general public rely on these platforms as accessible sources of knowledge. Consequently, the lack of verifiable information on prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutic approaches limits the social impact of open science.

Specific initiatives have emerged to address this context, such as WikiProject Hearing Health, which focuses on hearing science. Despite these thematic efforts, broader gaps remained in the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) context. Topics such as voice, orofacial motricity, neurodiversity, and rare genetic conditions still lacked high-quality data. Many entries were incomplete, outdated, or entirely absent.

Initiative

This initiative “Edit-a-thons on Disorders of Human Communication and Health Promotion” was developed to fill these specific voids across three dimensions: textual content on Wikipedia, structured data on Wikidata, and visual scientific communication on Wikimedia Commons.

The primary objective was ensuring that verifiable information on human communication is widely accessible. By connecting academic expertise with open platforms, the project strengthens the entire open knowledge ecosystem. Beyond immediate content creation, the initiative aimed to establish a sustainable thematic community focused on human communication disorders in Brazil.

Model

To achieve this, the initiative adopted a model of thematic edit-a-thons and datathons. The strategy focused on connecting teaching and research institutions across Brazil. By engaging academic centres specializing in human communication disorders, the project fostered a culture of digital health promotion and open knowledge production.

Strategic Partnerships

The strategy relied on collaboration with six teaching and research institutions in Brazil. Partners included the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Faculdade IELUSC, and the University of São Paulo (USP). USP had the participation of two institutions: Faculty of Dentistry of Bauru and Faculty of Medicine of Bauru.

A partnership was also established with the USP Campus Bauru group of the PET-Health: Information and Digital Health. This partnership linked the initiative to the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s health education on digital strategies within the Brazil’s universal public health system.

The geographical distribution covered the Northeast, South, and Southeast regions, with over 10 professors and researchers coordinating activities locally.

Activity Formats

Eight events were organized employing virtual, hybrid, and in-person formats.

Virtual Activities focused on public health and epidemiology. Sessions with UFRN and UFSC addressed scientific communication and public health data. These events produced focused edits on Wikipedia and Wikidata related to communication disorders.

Hybrid Activities combined in-person participation with remote support. Partnerships with Faculdade IELUSC and UFS targeted hearing health, orofacial motricity, and genetic disorders like cleft lip and palate.

In-Person Activities were hosted at USP. These intensive sessions covered speech therapy, digital health, and visual communication. One highlight was the focus on open health data edition to Wikidata items.

Outcomes

The initiative engaged 239 participants, resulting in 182 active editors, in eight editing activities. These contributors came from diverse backgrounds, including speech therapy pathology, hearing sciences, linguistics, engineering, medicine, dentistry, and psychology. Data available on the initiative’s Meta-Wiki page and Programs & Events Dashboard.

The quantitative results demonstrate significant content expansion:

Wikipedia: 206 articles improved.

Wikidata: 64 items created and 227 edited.

Wikimedia Commons: 46 media files added.

Visualization: Content edited received over 140,000 views by November 2025.

Reflections

The initiative integrated editing sessions into the academic environment. This model encourages students, researchers and professor to contribute to verified health information on Wikimedia projects.

Future actions are already in development. The partnership with the Federal University of Sergipe will continue with educational activities on orofacial motricity and genetic disorders. The initiative successfully engaged diverse institutions in producing open knowledge on high-impact health topics.

The WikiProject Hearing Health team remains committed to supporting these actions. The goal is to advance building a volunteer community dedicated to disseminating evidence-based information on human communication disorders across Wikimedia projects.

Acknowledgements

We sincerely appreciate the Rapid Grant team for the support and prompt response regarding proposal adjustments. Gratitude is also extended to every participant who contributed to information on human communication disorders and health promotion, and to the educational institutions, professors, and researchers involved in the activities.

Support

This initiative was organized with support from the Wikimedia Foundation through the Wikimedia Community Fund (Rapid Fund G-RF-2507-19547).

Activities were coordinated by members of WikiProject Hearing Health. The proponents of this initiative declare research affiliations with the University of São Paulo, the São Paulo Research Foundation (process no. 2024/05572-7), and the Audiological Research Centre (USP-CNPq).