Boosting health literacy & behaviors through animated video storytelling
Maya Adam
This page was developed for the NIH SciEd 2022 Conference, the SEPA annual meeting.
Research Findings to Date
Introduction
Low health literacy in the US public fuels high rates of preventable disease. Key solutions lie in increasing the accessibility of science-based health messages and helping Americans identify trustworthy sources of information. As Americans spend more time than ever before consuming short video content on social media, health educators have an opportunity to meet this audience where they seek their information.
Methods
Through a series of online, randomized controlled experiments, we tested the effect of short, animated storytelling videos on engagement, knowledge and behavioral intent to adopt recommendations.
Results
We documented rapid, viral spread of the videos to more than 15 million views on social media. We observed significant increases in health knowledge and behaviors and well as high voluntary engagement.
Conclusions
Short, animated storytelling videos are a novel, promising approach to the rapid dissemination of accessible health information and could be used to boost public health literacy across diverse demographics.
Health Animations for Adolescents and Young Adults
Summary of Specific Aims
Our hypothesis is that health videos, using a short animated storytelling approach, will improve the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and critical health literacy of adolescents and young adults from diverse demographics.
Approximately 80 million Americans suffer from low health literacy, putting them at risk for poor health outcomes. Adolescence and young adulthood is a period of emerging autonomy - a window of opportunity for developing critical health literacy skills and healthy lifestyle habits. Science-based health education and traditional health literacy interventions often fail to reach and engage adolescents and young adults (AYAs), especially minority groups leaving them vulnerable to poor health outcomes.
To reach diverse AYAs, health educators need to engage this target audience via the type of media they regularly consume, on the platforms where they seek information. Near-ubiquitous use of social media in this age group and soaring consumption of short video content, presents a powerful opportunity to deliver key health messages and teach critical health literacy skills. Short, animated storytelling (SAS) videos - designed for rapid spread via social media - can broaden engagement with health education, boosting knowledge and healthy behaviors across demographics.
This Project Aims to:
Explore Animated Videos
Published Research
Vandormael A, Adam M, Greuel M, Gates J, Favaretti C, Hachaturyan V, Bärnighausen T. The Effect of a Wordless, Animated, Social Media Video Intervention on COVID-19 Prevention: Online Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR public health and surveillance. 2021 Jul 27;7(7):e29060.
Adam M, McMahon SA, Prober C, Bärnighausen T. Human-Centered Design of Video-Based Health Education: An Iterative, Collaborative, Community-Based Approach. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2019;21(1):e12128.!
Favaretti C, Vandormael A, Hachaturyan V, Greuel M, Gates J, Adam M, Bärnighausen T. Participant Engagement and Reactance to a Short, Animated Video About Added Sugars: A Web-based Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Sep 23. (doi: 10.2196/29669)
Chen, S., Forster, S., Yang, J., Yu, F., Jiao, L., Gates, J., ... & Adam, M. (2022). Animated, video entertainment-education to improve vaccine confidence globally during the COVID-19 pandemic: an online randomized controlled experiment with 24,000 participants. Trials, 23(1), 1-10
Favaretti C, Vandormael A, Hachaturyan V, Greuel M, Gates J, Adam M, Bärnighausen T. Participant Engagement and Reactance to a Short, Animated Video About Added Sugars: A Web-based Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2021 Sep 23. (doi: 10.2196/29669)
Adam M, Chase RP, McMahon SA, Kuhnert KL, Johnston J, Ward V, Prober C, Bärnighausen T. Design preferences for global scale: a mixed-methods study of “glocalization” of an animated, video-based health communication intervention. BMC public health. 2021 Dec;21(1):1-2.
Adam M, Bärnighausen T, McMahon SA, Design for extreme scalability: A wordless, globally scalable COVID-19 prevention animation for rapid public health communication. Journal of Global Health. 2020; 10.
Vandormael A, Adam M, Greuel M, Gates J, Favaretti C, Hachaturyan V, Bärnighausen T. The Effect of a Wordless, Animated, Social Media Video Intervention on COVID-19 Prevention: Online Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR public health and surveillance. 2021 Jul 27;7(7):e29060.