We've launched two brand new support videos for people affected by cancer. 'Having your PICC line put in' and 'Having your central line put in' are now available on our YouTube channel.
As you may know, a PICC line is another name for a tube called a catheter. It is implanted in an arm to deliver chemotherapy and other medications. Similarly, a central line is a tube inserted into a chest vein to do the same job.
We have developed these two new evidence-based resources to help patients, their families, and caregivers understand how a PICC line and central line are inserted. You can learn:
How we produced the animations
Both videos replaced older content from our YouTube channel that needed a refresh. So, we started by rewriting the original scripts with a working group of two editors, a cancer information nurse, and people from our branding and video teams.
We wanted easy-to-understand, up-to-date cancer information in a visually exciting and accessible video style. We wanted the content to speak to diverse audiences, including people for whom English is a second language and our BSL users.
Once satisfied with the script changes, we sent the final transcripts to the creative agency for them to send us a selection of voice-over artists to consider. We wanted our new content to reflect a range of genders, ages, accents and ethnicities, so we auditioned our favourite voices from a broad range of players.
Next, we developed our first storyboards. Seeing it all come together visually for the first time was perhaps the most exciting point, with each of us suggesting amendments and improvements to enhance the finished resources.
Animated cartoons would allow us to tell quickly and easily understood stories with more flexibility over cost, design, diversity inclusion, branding, and other elements. But showing animated close-ups of medical activity inside the human body clinched it for the team.
Once the animations were completed, we added a BSL signer and subtitles to make them even more inclusive. Then after our brand review team signed off everything, we were ready to rock and roll.
Developing new video content can be an intense experience for everyone involved. But we get to be creative as editors, so it is always enjoyable. Seeing more people engage with our content afterwards is the most gratifying reward possible.
We hope you like the latest PICC and central line animations. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
