“Stay tuned”: an exploratory content and thematic analysis of brain injury videos on YouTube
This exploratory study aimed to examine brain injury videos on YouTube to determine who posted about brain injury, content categories of videos, and how brain injury was represented.
A mixed methods approach was used. Brain injury videos on YouTube were collected in November 2022 and analysed quantitatively and qualitatively using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Visual data analysis was used to generate visual descriptions of a representative sample of the videos, and these were thematically analysed alongside the video transcripts.
The sample of 100 YouTube videos consisted of educational, lived experience, and promotional videos. Medical organisations and hospitals were the predominant source of videos. An overarching theme of “Video tells a story” was generated from eighteen visual descriptions and transcripts which contained three major themes: (a) we choose how the story is told, (b) recovery is a process, and (c) it changed my life.
YouTube may have a storytelling role for both people with a brain injury wishing to share their story and for health professionals wishing to communicate information about brain injury. This research may have clinical implications for the integration of YouTube in brain injury rehabilitation and the use of YouTube for health communication.
Existing literature demonstrates that social media platforms, including Twitter (now known as X) and Facebook, are used by people with brain injury, health professionals and the public to share and access content.
YouTube is used by medical and educational organisations, health professionals, and people with brain injury to post videos that discuss educational, medical, promotional, and lived experience topics.
YouTube has a storytelling role that enables users to share stories about brain injury, including personal experiences posted by people with brain injury. This may be significant as storytelling allows people with brain injury to build connections with others.
YouTube is also used by health professionals to share factual information about brain injury. The choices made in videos (e.g., audio-visual content, portrayal of brain injury, language style) impacted the research team’s connection with videos.
Health professionals should integrate lived experience and the voices of people with brain injury to create authentic videos that resonate with audiences.
Existing literature demonstrates that social media platforms, including Twitter (now known as X) and Facebook, are used by people with brain injury, health professionals and the public to share and access content.
YouTube is used by medical and educational organisations, health professionals, and people with brain injury to post videos that discuss educational, medical, promotional, and lived experience topics.
YouTube has a storytelling role that enables users to share stories about brain injury, including personal experiences posted by people with brain injury. This may be significant as storytelling allows people with brain injury to build connections with others.
YouTube is also used by health professionals to share factual information about brain injury. The choices made in videos (e.g., audio-visual content, portrayal of brain injury, language style) impacted the research team’s connection with videos.
Health professionals should integrate lived experience and the voices of people with brain injury to create authentic videos that resonate with audiences.
