2862 Making video part of the care process

Really effective use of video happens when it becomes a natural part of your care processes. Start by thinking about the journey of care and identify all the times when you could use video to ‘prescribe information' for maximum impact. Alongside, list the main challenges you face. Perhaps people don’t show up for meetings because they are anxious. Or when they do show up, they are poorly prepared, making the meeting or treatment less effective. Maybe they forget what you said. Or perhaps they think they understand but when they leave you they get it all wrong. For example they end up doing their rehab exercises incorrectly. Maybe they need to explain the issues to someone else such as a family member, but find it hard. All these issues will guide you on when you should be using your videos. For example: Getting people to watch a video before an appointment will encourage them to turn up, but will also enable them think about the important issues in their lives, which will lead to a more constructive conversation and more questions. Using video during a consultation or appointment will help you to show and explain, whilst providing a link to a video to be watched afterwards can reinforce the key points and help people to explain to family members and carers. When you know when you want to use video, you need the materials that make sharing easy, such as web page links in standard letters and leaflets, links on QR codes on prescription cards like this, or links in text messages or emails. Using video can feel unusual at first, but with practice and a list of videos at hand it will soon become as normal as handing out a leaflet.