How to Disguise Patient Education as Entertainment
San Fransisco, CA. Jan. 7, 2019 — People spend their free time watching videos, in search of entertainment. Patient education must become entertaining.
Free Time & Entertainment
In previous posts, I’ve discussed how mobile video is taking over the world. But what kind of videos are currently the most watched?
Studies show that people seek entertainment more than any other type of video content across all generational groups from millennials to baby boomers.
Remember, it is the person’s FREE TIME that should be the focus of chronic disease prevention and management organizations. It is in the person’s free time that he or she will use to participate in your program.
Our users/patients spend their free time seeking entertainment on their mobile devices but in today’s world, patient education is NOT entertaining. Let’s take a look at the status quo.
A Quick Look at Patient Education
In healthcare today, patient education looks like well…education. For most people, education is a chore. Our patients/participants/users do not want to spend their free time on extra chores, so they do not engage.
In fact, most people would agree that learning about their chronic condition is the OPPOSITE of entertaining.
Patient Education Disguised as Entertainment
People are spending more and more time on their mobile device watching videos. The most popular type of video falls into the category of entertainment. We search to be entertained.
In our research, we’ve found that animations are like magic for education. It makes the content entertaining. (There’s that word again!)
The aesthetically appealing imagery, movements, and entertaining actor or voice artist bring the educational material to life in a new way that was impossible to do at scale just a few years ago.
We studied channels like Crash Course, Inanutshell and TedEd and found that health education can get millions of engagements when it is delivered using animated videos. (See this post)
Imagine a world where education about a chronic disease shifted from a chore to something entertaining. Something interesting to explore.
Entertainment should be the number one focus of patient education organizations creating or curating new content.
We will continue to lead the way in exploring this new landscape of using animated videos for patient education.
Thank you for reading.
Miguel
Contact: Miguel.johns@kingfit.io
