Using a Film Degree in Healthcare: The Importance of Visual Storytelling
My passion for video
Ever since I was young, I have been connected to making movies. My sister and I would spend our summers recording and editing videos on our home computer’s iMovie application. Our videography included commercial remakes, our own talk show, and, most memorably, a video where we argued against people who disliked One Direction.
When I got a bit older, my passion for making movies turned into writing scripts and filming and editing spoof videos for my favorite shows and comics. I never took it too seriously, but it was a full production I was running. I had this obvious passion, but the path to studying film was never clear to me (I’m not sure if that’s because of the lack of encouragement to pursue a creative career from my counselor or because woman aren’t encouraged to break into the industry, but I digress). It was the movie Kill Your Darlings that caused an epiphany. When I was crying over the movie, I thought about how cool it is that I know these actors; I’m familiar with the director; the film is based on real events; I know it’s a movie. Yet here I am, crying over what I know isn’t real. The idea that we knowingly buy movie tickets or log in to our favorite streaming services to watch these creations knowing they are crafted, and they still make us laugh, cry, or scream in fear.
I wanted to be a part of that.
I went to the University of North Carolina Greensboro where I majored in Media Studies and learned every aspect of the film production process. I had created some great films and was in the middle of writing and producing my senior film when COVID-19 hit. Switching to virtual learning was hard on everyone, but with no access to equipment and all my crew-mates being sent to their respective states, my senior film was scrapped.
Graduating into a COVID-19 impacted world was terrifying. My plan was always to move out to Los Angeles right when I graduated and find work there. But the movie making business, as well as California, was completely shut down. I was making ends meet working retail when I stumbled upon the Fusion team, an enterprise accelerator within UnitedHealth Group. They were interested in my background with Disney and my video skills and told me there was a place for me on their team of individuals with diverse backgrounds. I was excited to have a role where media was a possibility, but I wasn’t quite sure where I would fit in, as I knew very little about the healthcare industry. I quickly discovered there was a huge need for videos in this space, and I could help provide that. The healthcare industry is full of learning and empathy — trainings, complex ideas, apps, insurance, sickness, wellness, diversity and inclusion. It is a lot to write out, so why not simplify it with a video?
The importance of video
Before understanding the importance of video in healthcare, it is key to mention the importance of video in general.
We as humans get bored easily. We look at a wall of text and take away maybe one or two sentences. A minute long video with fun colors, animations, and music, however, forces you to pay attention. Healthcare is an industry that needs attention. Another important part of drawing attention is evoking emotion. I could make a video with text on it about a new app, but no one will care if they aren’t emotionally invested. They might think that the interface looks good or that it will make money, but do they actually care about the app?
Video in healthcare
I had the opportunity to make a trailer for a new healthcare app that was shared with UnitedHealth Group leaders to gain their interest in the app itself. Originally, the trailer was just going to be a walkthrough of the app’s value proposition and capabilities. Although it would have been easy and probably effective in peaking interest, would the audience be emotionally invested? We instead decided to create a live action trailer that would follow an end user (Kelsey) struggling with a heart issue.
Picture this: Kelsey just graduated college and is on the tail end of moving out of her parents’ house. Taking control of her life and living on her own means taking control of their healthcare as well. Being young and taking the reins of your healthcare for the first time is a scary experience, especially when it can be so complicated. From trying to find a provider, understanding insurance, long wait times, etc., it is a critical time where young people can often drop out of getting help at all because it is so overwhelming. Kelsey was scared to ask for help, and Googling her symptoms gave her 100 different results, most stating that she was dying (even though she wasn’t). Her doctor eventually refers her to a new app that has everything she needs all in one place — she can chat with her provider, set up appointments, and get the quick help she needs. Now, rather than leaders thinking, “Wow, this app looks great!,” they’re thinking, “Wow, this app will really help those we serve!” Everyone has had an experience of taking charge of their healthcare. People will relate to the user in the video and think, “I wish I had access to this app back then.”
When can you use video instead of text?
So much information is shared within the healthcare space. As someone working in the enterprise there are new emails every day filled with extensive information. This information is important, but as stated earlier, it is easy to miss things and even easier to not retain all of what you read. Of course, realistically you can’t make a video for everything (like this article), sometimes you just have to re-read a sentence if you happen to zone out or take notes while you read. But whenever possible, video can be an extremely effective way to share information to the proper audience. I have had several opportunities to make videos to enhance the learning experience. I was able to create an animated video that explained the importance of health equity with a lot of amazing data. I also had the ability to help spruce up a training with lots of videos throughout. Those videos helping to simplify complex topics such as the difference between equity, equality and justice and also creating an animated persona story that got users emotionally invested in the training. At every job, not just within the healthcare industry, certain trainings must be completed. How many of us have scrolled through walls and walls of text, finishing the training, and feeling like we learned nothing? Why not replace the heavy word-count with a fun video that will convince users to care about what they are learning?
As the world continues to move forward it seems like we have less and less ability to stay focused, in constant need of overstimulation. So why not keep up? Videos need to be more colorful, they need to be shorter, they need to get the information across and do so quickly and with pizzaz. The healthcare space would be improved by leveraging videos more frequently. Whether that is in trainings, information sharing or creating empathy for ourselves and end users it is needed in order to make any type of dent in our minds. When I was in school, I never saw myself in the role I’m in now but I feel like I hit the jackpot. I am grateful to be part of one of the biggest industries in the world where the biggest values are information and empathy, there is no better place for media creation.
A Fusion publication. We are employees of UHG and these views are our own and not those of the company nor its affiliates.
