The researchers found that out of the 468 videos sampled from YouTube, only 28% were rated as having useful information on palliative care, hospice, or end of life, and as many as 72% were considered to be “poor quality”. The study found that poor quality videos tended to be uploaded by individuals and news media, whereas good quality videos tended to uploaded by reputable educational or health care institutions.
In the article in The Oncology Report, Dr Getter acknowledged that the rating system used in the study is very subjective. However, he also stated that “98% of the cases, it was exceedingly obvious” to the researchers which videos were good or bad quality.
ehospice has covered certain useful hospice and palliative care video resources. For example in the YouTube video Practical Medication Tips at End of Life, two American pharmacists discuss practical tips when dispensing end of life care medications. The YouTube video Living With Loss was produced by the Irish Hospice Foundation to help and advise on the challenges of overcoming bereavement. However, despite their good quality, the view counts for these videos remain relatively low.
One of the reason that there are so few good quality palliative care videos being watched is that they are not getting enough exposure. YouTube ranks higher traffic videos higher in their search, which is where most people go to find videos, whereas high rankings do not necessarily correlate to the quality of the video. Organisations need to increase exposure and traffic in order for their higher quality videos to be ranked higher.
Dr Getter urges organisations to do more to promote their videos. He said: “You’d be surprised at how many of these videos that were great and were uploaded by health care and hospice organizations can’t be found anywhere on their websites. To me, it just seems kind of silly to go to all the trouble producing these things and not have the exposure.”
However, not all palliative care videos created by reputable organisations are seen as being of outstanding quality. For example, the AAHPM’s own You’re Sick, It’s Serious video is cited in the article as an example of a good quality palliative care video. However, comments on the video itself show that some viewers are critical of the lack of portrayal of nurses or younger people in the palliative care setting. Furthermore, independent sources can also provide good quality information. David Oliver, a cancer patient and a video blogger on YouTube, was recognised for his good work and asked to present a plenary at the AAHPM conference this year.
YouTube is an increasingly important resource and potential avenue for sharing information about hospice and palliative care. In 2011, YouTube had more than 1 trillion views– around 140 views for every person on Earth. It is increasingly being used, particularly by younger people, to find information and news. Hospices and palliative care organisations need to find ways to gain more exposure on this channel which has the potential spread their message to millions of people.
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