Each year medical videos prove to be a valuable tool for educating patients and helping them develop greater knowledge of their health conditions. In 2023, the trend will remain the same. Videos are a valuable content format that can explain complex medical procedures, demonstrate treatment options, and show patients how to take care of themselves at home. The possibilities are endless and the results are outstanding.
Studies on patient health education videos by scholars in journals such as the National Library of Medicine reflect this impact of video. According to these, medical videos can increase patient knowledge and understanding by 38%, therefore speeding up the comprehension of complex scientific concepts. Furthermore, it contributes to a significant decrease in anxiety (22%) related to surgery and delicate procedures.
In this blog post, we will look over the benefits of medical videos and some tips that will help you advance patient health literacy effectively.
What to consider when using medical videos to
advance patient health literacy
Using medical videos in your patient education strategy is not a straightforward task. You must ensure that your video is relevant to your audience by keeping the patient’s needs and interests in mind. Length and content are the two commanding words that will dictate the success of your efforts. Medical videos ought to be brief, engaging, and, most of all, informative. Then, it is all about aligning the patients’ interests with their needs and level of knowledge.
Following this line of thought, we will look over some of the main factors behind medical video creation and their use that should be considered.
1# Enhance the patient experience with medical
explainer videos and visual graphics
Patients are surrounded by a plethora of online health resources to choose from. However, most of these are neither credible nor easy to understand. It is here that medical videos come into action. These videos allied with the use of visual graphics help enhance the patient experience and understanding of medical conditions.
There are different types of medical videos – testimonials, product demos, explainer videos, and more. Explainer videos are the most successful in helping increase brand awareness of a particular product and service. These are useful for explaining complex medical procedures, demonstrating how different organs work, and much more. When allied with visual graphics and animations, these videos are beyond impactful.
Here’s an example for you to visualize this. If a patient undergoes heart surgery, a medical animation can help explain the procedure in detail. Therefore, showing the patients what happens during the surgery, how the heart is repaired, and how long the procedure will take. This will alleviate patients’ anxiety and fears, as well as improve their overall experience.
At BlueNovius, we have created MedExplainer an impactful digital solution that helps pharma and life science companies make patients’ experiences with their brand more accessible and engaging. With MedExplainer, you can provide detailed insight into:
- A condition’s general characteristics;
- Diagnosis;
- Treatment options;
- Side effects…
2# Foster patient trust
Trust is the cornerstone to building a long-lasting relationship with patients. This is pivotal to showcasing your value. However, patients’ trust in pharma companies is in true deficit. In fact, a recent report has shown that 93% of patients do not trust advice from pharmaceutical companies about their medication.
Health education videos can be an effective way to foster patient trust. These videos can help patients have a sense of control over their health that they otherwise wouldn’t have. Patients who understand their medical conditions and treatment options are more likely to trust pharma companies and their healthcare providers.
For example, if a patient is diagnosed with cancer, a medical explainer video can help them understand their diagnosis, the treatment options available, and what to expect during treatment. The secret is to share scientific information through a digestible content format where knowledge is delivered in an unbiased way.
3# Avoid medical jargon
Medical jargon can be a barrier to effective and easy-to-understand communication between pharma companies and patients. For that exact reason, medical animations should be free of medical jargon. Furthermore, the language used should be, most of all, accessible. Clear communication is another stepping stone to building patient trust and improving health literacy.
So, let’s see this in practice. You want to tell a patient more about myocardial infarction and its specificities – What are the warning signs? How can you prevent it? At first glance, patients might hear the word “myocardial infarction” and not understand it. “Heart attack” however, will ring a bell. This simple change can help patients better understand their medical conditions.
4# Personalize communication around your
patients’ needs
Communication personalization helps any brand ensure that a patient’s needs are met and that the information provided is relevant to them and their specific condition. When creating a health education video, this becomes especially important. It is valuable to consider patients’:
- Age;
- Gender;
- Cultural background;
- Level of education;
- …and more!
Imagine a patient that is from a non-English speaking background. Healthcare providers and pharma brands with medical videos that either include subtitles or narration in their native language. Doing this helps ensure that the patient understands the information provided and improves the overall patient experience with your brand.
In the end, personalization is just another important step in advancing health literacy. Through accessible, relevant content, you can make sure that the right information reaches the right audience at the right time in their healthcare journey.
Conclusions
All in all, medical videos are an effective content format for educating patients and improving their health literacy which can often be compromised by misleading sources of information. For these reasons, it is important to keep in mind the patient’s needs and interests so you deliver content that is relevant and credible. The truth is, 76% of consumers that feel connected with your brand and what you have to offer, will choose you over a competitor.
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