Using Animations to Educate Children and Caregivers on Pediatric Pancreatitis: Assessing the Impact and Utilization of the National Pancreas Foundation's Pediatric Animated Pancreas Patient.

Abstract

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of animated pancreas patient (APP), pediatric-focused online educational modules on patient and caregiver education.

Methods: Retrospective study of collected APP metrics over 6 years. The audience reaches, and geographic location of the APP site were assessed. Further, we collected data on the top 5 viewed expert and patient videos and evaluated the impact of these modules on patient and provider education through viewer surveys.

Results: There were 226,772 visitors to the APP Pediatric modules on the NPF website over 6 years. They viewed the modules 310,068 times for an average of 51,678 views/year. In contrast, adult modules had 1,475,252 views over a 4-year period with an average of 368,813 views/year. Given the incidence of Pediatric and adult CP in 2014 of 1.9/100,000 persons and 24.7/100,000 persons, respectively, the average yearly views per incidence were 27,198 and 14,932 for children and adults, respectively. Eighty-nine percent of viewers of APP modules on pediatric pancreatitis who completed the feedback survey reported they learned new information.

Conclusion: The average yearly view/incidence for Pediatric modules was 1.8 times higher than for adult modules, with the majority reporting that they learned new information. The popularity of the Pediatric modules confirms that online educational content is highly accessible and successful in educating patients and caregivers about Pediatric pancreatitis and confirms the need to continue to utilize these educational modules now and in the future.