Now Showing: Multiscreen Health Education

Lisa Calderwood, MA

Senior Medical Writer

Now showing: multiscreen health education

“From smartphones and tablets to laptops and television, 90% of all media interactions today are screen-based.”—The New Multi-screen World: Understanding Cross-platform Consumer Behavior, Google, March 2012

Before joining Artcraft Health Education (AHE) as senior medical writer, I spent several years writing and producing educational videos for nursing educators, practitioners, and students, first as vice president of communications for the National League for Nursing (NLN) and, later, as a consultant for various medical clients. Videotapes were shipped internationally to schools, hospitals, and clinics. Today, the content is not all that different, but the delivery of health education has evolved dramatically: viewing occurs either simultaneously on multiple devices or sequentially as users move from screen to screen. 

Here at AHE, I come across something new and exciting each day in the way we help the medical industry share digital content with its stakeholders. Whether teaching a patient about his or her disease or helping a clinical trial recruit patients, we are creating and programming information to live on mobile devices, tablets, and laptops or through customized digital printing. This dynamic application of multiple layers of visual and textual elements creates highly compelling, interactive educational tools for doctors, nurses, and patients alike. 

Here are some intriguing trends in the use of multiscreen platforms worth watching.  

Paperless medical conventions

The printing industry probably just got a little more worried after the decision by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF) to sponsor a paperless meeting at the 25th anniversary event of the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in San Francisco, CA. The CRF, a nonprofit organization, gave free Samsung tablets with a preprogrammed app to all paid attendees at the meeting to navigate their way through almost a week of sessions and events. There were no printed curricula, agendas, or brochures at the meeting. The tablet guide was a popular decision among attendees according to an online video summary of the event by TCT, although some couldn’t find their meeting locations in the app and there were limited printed schedules. There still is a place for print!

Videos and medical education

Video has long been used in medical and nursing education, but could it take the place of or reduce the time spent in class? Consider these examples.

·    The March 5, 2013, California Health Report reported on Videos on the cutting edge of medical education and referred to a shift in thinking among some schools to teach medical students using online videos, and then having those students come to class to review what they learned. This “flipped classroom” concept first gained traction in the K-12 sector by the online video–based Khan Academy, which is now offering medical school content. The Stanford University School of Medicine will soon teach its students via online videotaped lectures and is working with Khan to implement the program. The Khan medical videos are designed to “tell a story,” making the content more relevant to would-be practitioners

·    Videotaped clinical simulation learning is widely used in nursing education to document students’ clinical interactions with state-of-the-art patient mannequins. Educators replay the videos with students to debrief them on their clinical performance. See NLN’s Simulation and Technology to learn more

·     Live video streaming also helps practicing nurses and physicians participate in real-time Q&A online and earn accredited continuing medical education units (CMEs)

Artcraft Health Education offers multiscreen patient education

These are just a few examples of innovative multiscreen applications in healthcare. AHE can help you select the right platform to deliver your patient education or medical marketing messages—whether it is the tablet, an animation, a mobile app, or online learning. Our award-winning programs have supported scores of pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech brands. Visit our website at www.artcrafthealthed.com/to learn more. AHE can help!