What if you could send a message to 100, 1000, perhaps even 10,000 people? What if all of those people were patients of a particular kind? Or QI professionals in your region? Or your Integrated Care System (ICS) colleagues who help define where funding goes? What if the groups that received those messages were highly targeted: what could you ask and learn?
Sometimes we think of social media audiences as one big group but in reality, social media is a collection of many subgroups that can get quite specific. For example, a 2021 Q Exchange project co-produced videos to support families doing complex gastronomy procedures at home – saving staff time and giving patients peace of mind. Not something you’d expect in everybody’s media feed, but highly relevant for this particular group. (See related links on the right for more details on this project).
So, if you have a message you’d like to share, we want to give you the tools to do it in the most engaging way you can. That’s why we’ve set up a new Videos & Podcasts Special Interest Group (SIG) where you can meet other enthusiastic amateurs who are also interested in tapping into content creation and social media. Our first event is coming up on 13 September – more details on that below.
You can see what I’m talking about in this video.
Let’s look at a couple of case studies.
Using podcasts to grow as a professional
Q member Jonathan O’Reilly is the Head of Quality Improvement at NHS Scotland Golden Jubilee National Hospital, but he’s also known by his online persona, the QI Guy. He hosts the podcast “The QI Guy in Conversation with…”, which does as it says on the tin.
His focus is other QI professionals. He uses his podcast conversations to connect and exchange with professionals who have different experiences from his.
Having your professional development as a shared journey allows other people to follow along and improve with you.
Doing this publicly not only increases his own network reach, but also benefits his QI-focused audience very directly, packaging really valuable insights from people who work in the field.
In his own words: “I’ve stolen bits and pieces of all of them [podcast guests] in terms of how I see them engaging with people, their understanding and explanation of technical tools and the way they can maintain and build relationships as well. (…) I’ve got a huge debt to a lot of people who have been on the podcast over the years because, you know, I’m very much a sum of all their parts.”
Having your professional development as a shared journey allows other people to follow along and improve with you.
Using videos to talk to patients and wider audiences
For many of our members, the question is: how do I apply this knowledge? How do I create a positive impact? In many cases, it’s a matter of reaching out to people and letting them know what’s possible and what’s not.
This becomes even more relevant when people are stuck waiting for support and treatment.
A few weeks ago, I joined Q member Pete Donnelly on a Zoom call and we discussed good practice around social media, particularly in a health and care context. His example couldn’t be more fitting: he’s making short videos introducing crucial wheelchair skills like climbing stairs and going down slopes.
Of course, those videos will never replace the on-site workshops Pete runs, where he can give personalised support to different people at different stages of their learning journeys. But they are a way for people to get to know his work exists – and to start practising and understanding the fundamentals before the actual work happens. This becomes even more relevant when people are stuck waiting for support and treatment.
Watch his video for a taster.
Videos and podcasts: learning the basics
Stories like those above give me hope. As somebody who’s been making videos for a full decade, I understand how the findability of those videos gives them power. It’s not a substitute for a conversation with a friend or a professional, but they have the power of being easy to access, practical, and readily available to a wider audience.
Here’s my invitation: join the brand new Videos & Podcasts SIG. Here you can learn the basics on recording, editing, scripting and posting online.
A point in common between both the QI Guy’s and Pete Donnelly’s examples is their sheer simplicity. We’re not talking about superproductions with a film crew, post-production and Hollywood guests. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if both of them used nothing but a phone to record their content, and edited it in a few minutes.
So why not tap into this online reach? Why not make our knowledge, our research and our calls for community easy to access?
Here’s my invitation: join the brand new Videos & Podcasts SIG. Here you can learn the basics on recording, editing, scripting and posting online. Not only that, but you’ll meet other enthusiastic amateurs – together we’ll learn the basics and celebrate each other’s journeys.
We’ll have our first event on 13 September – this one will be all about recording yourself using nothing but your phone. From this point on, we’ll make this content journey together.
Get involved
Join our training session: Learn how to record a video on 13 September and for more information and support, join the Videos and Podcasts SIG.
The video below is a sneak peek of what we’ll be exploring and practising in September. Join us to ask questions and meet other members who are also just learning how to do it. And who knows? They might be the first people you interview, or the first people who interview you.
Further resources
The QI Guy – In Conversation With podcasts