| Résumé | Videos can create learning communities, increase communication richness, empower users and encourage identity formation. Online sites like YouTube share both professionally-produced videos and user-generated videos. Low-budget user-generated videos could offer new opportunities for promotion and awareness of health issues. Our study explores how a broad spectrum of people living in a small Canadian city engages with online videos for health information. A sample of adults who watch online videos participated in a survey with multi-media content. The study focus was to determine if they were seeking health information via online videos and to assess their responses to online videos on mental health issues. While 44% of participants never or rarely watched online videos containing health information, 90% believed that viewing short videos online produced by health professionals is a good way for people to access information about health. Participants then viewed, in random order, two short videos on mental health posted on YouTube– one user-generated, and the other professionally-developed by a mental health organization. After viewing the videos, participants reported high levels of interest and learning, being influenced by the video, and acceptance for the use of online video for increasing their awareness and knowledge of health information. Our results suggest that both short user-generated and professional online videos are potentially of interest to a wide range of people and are an influential medium of health information that can positively influence the viewers’ awareness, interest and learning on health issues. |
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