Why Medical Explainer Animations Are Popular?

Medical explainer animations are increasingly favoured for their ability to present complex medical information in a patient-friendly manner. Traditional imagery of medical procedures can be intimidating and unpleasant, making animation a preferable alternative for explaining treatments, procedures, and drug mechanisms.

It is for these reasons that medical animations are becoming increasingly popular among the healthcare industry, the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries, and the NHS, where they support the work of doctors, nurses and other clinicians.

Uses of Medical Explainer Animations

Patient Information:

 Animations explain important information in a way that is accessible, memorable, and clear, elevating the delivery of patient information beyond the traditional leaflet format, and offering patients a more appealing viewing option at a time when they might be feeling worried and overwhelmed. 

The combination of visual and audible messaging, together with subtitles, improves clarity for non-native English speakers and neurodiverse audiences. Additional accessibility options including sign language interpretation and audio description can also be easily included in an animation.

Patient information animations help manage patient expectations by explaining what to expect during a procedure and post-treatment care, making the process less daunting. For example, Senate Media created an animation for UCLH NHS Trust to inform patients about pre-treatment guidelines for dental procedures that would be carried out under sedation.

Medical explainer videos can prevent costly misunderstandings and missed appointments, offering significant returns on the investment behind the creation of an animation. For example, ensuring patients follow pre-treatment guidelines can reduce appointment cancellations, saving time and resources.

Waiting Rooms and Public Spaces:

Waiting to be seen at a GP’s surgery, dental surgery or hospital can be a nerve wracking experience. Many people nervously flick through a magazine to help pass the time.

The installation of digital screens in waiting rooms has become increasingly popular as another way of helping people to pass the time while providing them with useful information. Here, medical explainer animations can be used to deliver public health messages such as reminding people of coronavirus symptoms or to wash their hands. 

Similarly they can be used to highlight the need to check for symptoms of other diseases and conditions that they should be mindful of and at which point they should book a visit to the doctors. 

Outside of the waiting room, digital billboards – increasingly common at bus stops and railway stations – can be good vehicles for medical explainers with a broad public health message.

Raising public awareness:

The types of medical explainers best suited to social media are similarly those with broad public health messages, and animations explaining the symptoms of specific conditions.

Senate Media worked with the charity, Scleroderma & Raynaud’s UK, to produce an animation that explained Raynauds and its associated symptoms. This was then published on Facebook and X with a call-to-action directing people to an online test. It proved to be a very successful way of raising awareness of the condition.

Training:

Medical explainers can also be used for training purposes. Videos are already seen as a useful tool for training, whether in seminars or, latterly, for remote training sessions.

In a medical context, animation can be used to explain complex procedures in a simplified manner.

However, their use is not limited to medical procedures; they can be used more widely to explain processes within a healthcare setting. Our work for King’s College London NHS Trust, for example, involved creating a training video that explained to managers how to approach appraisals.

Creating Effective Healthcare Explainer Videos

A successful healthcare explainer video must balance professionalism with accessibility. It should feature:

Senate Media has a wealth of experience in health care video production.

We work directly with NHS Trusts as well as the private and third sectors to produce healthcare animations.

If you’re thinking about video, but aren’t sure where to start, our team will be more than happy to speak to you to discuss your ideas and help you to formulate a brief, whether you’re looking for a patient explainer or an awareness video for social media and wider sharing.

Lets talk about your next project