Implementing targeted cervical cancer screening videos at the point of care

Abstract

Objective: To develop and implement educational videos to improve cervical cancer health literacy for patients within a safety net healthcare system.

Methods: Testimonial-style videos were developed with the goal of describing the Pap test to low literacy patients and motivating them to participate in regular cervical cancer screening. Nurses were trained to use the electronic medical record to identify patients due or past due for a Pap test according to the current screening guidelines. They played the video for all eligible patients as they waited to be seen by their physician in clinical examination rooms.

Results: Four 2-minute videos were developed in English, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Videos were made available on desktop computers in 458 exam rooms at 13 community health centers.

Conclusion: Integration of educational videos into the workflow of high-volume community health centers is feasible. Future work will focus on optimizing uptake of the videos as well as assessing their efficacy for improving cervical cancer health literacy.

Practice implications: Integrating targeted videos into patient flow may be a feasible way to address health literacy barriers to cervical cancer screening within a busy workflow environment.

Keywords: Cervical cancer screening; Electronic medical records; Health literacy; Patient education.