UCLH – Inhalation Sedation

The Brief

Effectively explaining patient information to children under 8 years old requires creating materials that are easy to understand, friendly and brief. This was the challenge that faced UCLH Eastman Dental Hospital as they looked for a way to move beyond traditional patient information leaflets and help their paediatric patients, together with their parents and carers, feel informed and prepared ahead of dental treatments carried out under inhalation sedation. 

The enhanced memorability and clarity that visuals bring, together with the succinct nature of a well crafted patient information script, meant that animation was the obvious solution. 

The Approach

With an under-8 audience, and an adult audience, the decision was made early in the planning stage that we should create two different animations. 

We worked with the team at UCLH to craft two different scripts, each conveying very similar information, but in a different way. 

For the children, the emphasis was on simple, friendly language, with a narrative that speaks directly to the child. We selected a talented young voice over artist to deliver the script, ensuring the tone would feel natural and accessible to young patients.

For the parent and carer audience, the script conveyed more detailed information, and we selected an adult voice to deliver the clear, succinct narrative.

We created a warm and appealing visual style for the animations that would be both welcoming and informative. Scenes are representative of the clinic setting to help patients know what to expect on the day, and we supported these with simple, intuitive icons that are based on the widgets used throughout the NHS.

To enhance accessibility, we created a version of both animations with British Sign Language (BSL), as well as providing professionally translated subtitles in Arabic, Farsi, Bengali, Spanish, and Turkish.

The Result

The animations are currently in use both in patient consultations and for review at home. The use of QR codes in clinic is helping UCLH reduce paper and waste, and initial feedback from patients and their grown ups has been positive, with more data expected to be gathered soon.