The video about RA explains that it is a lifelong disease, highlights the importance of taking medications as prescribed, and emphasizes that symptoms can improve with exercise and a healthy diet, and by giving up smoking.4
In the video about OA, patients are informed about the development of OA; the types of pain relievers; the importance of activity, exercise and weight control; and the procedures and treatments patients may have heard about but are not recommended for the condition.5
In the video related to osteoporosis in women, patient scenarios explain what OP is and why building bone through weight-bearing exercise is vital, and it outlines the differences among the types of medications used to treat the condition.
‘We wanted to make sure that those patients who have difficulty understanding written information will gain information from these videos, which use low-level vocabulary & are also fun & entertaining.’ —Dr. Lopez-Olivo
All of the videos follow the same sequence: overview of the condition, then patient stories, description of the risks and benefits of the treatment, and then back to the patient story to highlight the benefits of that particular segment, Dr. Lopez-Olivo explains. “We then review the key facts for patients to remember. At the very end, we give a final patient story that emphasizes even more the key points in that segment.”
For initial pilot testing of the videos, researchers recruited participants from community clinics in the county’s health system and the MD Anderson Cancer Center. There were 20 participants per disease, with at least five Spanish-speaking participants within each group. Each patient’s health literacy was evaluated with a single question: “How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself?”
All participants in the OA and OP groups were at least 50 years old, and they were 18 or older in the RA group. Those in the RA group had had the disease for 10 years or less because the content of that video is more appropriate for patients with early disease. Within the entire cohort, 85% were women, 54% were Hispanic, 73% had less than a high school diploma, and 70% had adequate health literacy.
Participants answered a questionnaire related to their disease prior to watching the video and then completed another questionnaire immediately after viewing the video. The questionnaires measured knowledge about disease and therapeutic options, and the degree to which a participant was conflicted or unclear about particular healthcare choices (decisional conflict) and disease management.
