Has YouTube helped to change standards?

We used to think patients and families were spoiled by the quality of television and movies, and would not be interested in patient teaching videos made in-house. We thought they’d be so distracted by the poor camera work and lighting, they wouldn’t pay attention to the message.

But maybe that isn’t entirely true anymore. Recent research examined the impact of the desirability of content on viewers’ ratings of subjective video quality. Kortum and Sullivan (2010) studied 100 participants and 180 movie clips encoded at nine levels from 550 kbps up to DVD quality. Participants viewed clips that were 2 minutes in length and then were asked about video quality of the clips and desirability of the movie content. They found a strong correlation between the desirability of movie content and subjective ratings of video quality.

Yes, this study considered the quality of video, not the quality of camera work and lighting. But it does show people are not as spoiled as we thought they were. Perhaps the public’s values have been modified by exposure to engaging homemade movies on YouTube and other video-sharing sites. Perhaps now, while surfing through videos online, they are looking for engaging content rather than slick production. Clearly more research needs to be done in this area. Because if, indeed, high quality content persuades viewers to rate the quality of the video higher, we could save money on production by focusing on our messages, ultimately lowering the cost of patient education. That’s good news.

From: Kortum, P., & Sullivan, M. (2010). The effect of content desirability on subjective video quality ratings. Hum Factors, 52(1), 105-118. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20653229?dopt=Citation

2 Responses to “Has YouTube helped to change standards?”

1. Chuck Jones says:

   August 18, 2010 at 2:32 pm

   Fran:

   I think this opens the door for healthcare professionals to “look outside the box” so to speak and hopefully think about video as a way to extend and support patient education consults. An example is the PT using a pocket camera to illustrate proper exercise technique or the nurse providing discharge instructions the same way so patients and family caregivers can review the video after they’re home and will likely discover things they didn’t hear when they were in the hospital.
2. NoTime_author says:

   August 19, 2010 at 8:17 pm

   I agree, Chuck. Technology offers many tools to support and reinforce patient education. And one may be in your pocket right now!