In today’s fast-paced medical world, groundbreaking research often goes unnoticed. Why? Because 77% of healthcare professionals (HCPs) say they simply don’t have the time to wade through dense academic papers. But what if there was a way to cut through the noise and get your vital research into the hands of those who need it most?
Enter the world of simplified content – a powerful tool that could revolutionise how your research is consumed and applied in the field.
The process of sifting through papers, identifying relevant or interesting ones, assessing the merits of the study and interpreting the results can be time-consuming. Simplified content can help HCPs assess whether a paper is worth reading. By presenting key findings in a clear and impactful format, assets such as graphics, infographics and video cut through to time-pressed workers, encouraging them to invest their time in the full text version of a paper.
This doesn’t mean HCPs will consume dumbed-down versions of research in preference to full, detailed papers. It’s simply a way for publishers to get their content noticed and increase uptake and engagement. What kind of formats work for this content and audience?
Our brains are hard-wired to respond to visual content
Those working in medical fields will have spent years ploughing through textbooks – but that doesn’t mean that dense text is the best way to convey information on medical topics. Our brains are primed to process visual information rapidly – around 93% of communication is nonverbal, and we process visual information 60,000 times faster than text.
Humans have been in existence for around 200,000 years but it was only 5,000 years ago that the first writing systems developed. Far more human history has been spent identifying the best fruit to eat or spotting predators lurking in the shadows than scanning text.
Information that is conveyed using graphic imagery stimulates multiple parts of the brain, helping to increase comprehension, recollection and retention. Imagery might also stimulate emotional response and associations, making content more vivid.
Dual coding theory posits that short text accompanied by visual information means the brain processes information through both visual and non-visual channels within the brain, helping to make it more memorable.
As well as being more memorable, a format that pairs short text with imagery also reduces the cognitive load required to make sense of information. Less work is required to avoid distractions such as ads or other articles on a page, or to comprehend how information is ordered and organised. This makes the content more readily accessible.
Is there a risk of harm from HCPs using graphic formats?
Incomplete or non-contextualised information can be harmful for medical professionals. Leaving out nuance and detail about the strengths and weaknesses of a study, the target population or some other element of the research can skew the findings and leave professionals with misconceptions that could be damaging.
However, the key question is whether HCPs would ever rely on an infographic or similar format in isolation, rather than using it as a stepping stone to accessing a full-length research study. Reliance on an abstract can lead to misconceptions. Other abbreviated formats such as infographics present the same risk.
A research study found that 76% of users were somewhat or extremely likely to go on to read a full text article after viewing an infographic. A substantial proportion (41%) said they saw infographics as a substitute for reading a full article at least half the time.
Two thirds (64%) of people said they saw infographics as a way of reducing the time burden of reading a full-text article. People outside of academia and research were more likely to rely on infographics (53% compared to 29%).
A majority of users (89%) were accessing information using a smartphone, and 55% thought infographics should be detailed enough for readers to be able to translate the findings to their own context without having to read the full article. More than two thirds (69%) accessed medical infographics on Twitter.
Key reasons for viewing an abbreviated format rather than a full-text version were lack of time (77%) and lack of access (71%). A smaller proportion (26%) said they were unsure how to determine study quality, how to interpret the study methods (23%) or results (24%).
Incomplete information can certainly be harmful if it is relied on – but no practitioner should be under the illusion that an abbreviated format provides enough depth of detail. The risk of users misinterpreting information has to be balanced against them not encountering the study at all, and missing out on innovations.
High quality infographics and other marketing formats can provide the next best thing to reading a full paper. Ideally, these would be structured to lead readers through to access the full text version.
What defines a successful and useful graphic asset?
To create a useful infographic or other format, the key point is to understand who the audience is, how they will use the asset and what the level of assumed knowledge is. Determining the level of detail to include is a tricky balancing act; too much information and the asset ceased to be a short and snackable piece, but too little and the result is likely to be less informative or even misleading.
Users need the right level of information to enable them to be able to assess data and its quality and understanding findings, but this needs to be packaged in a way that can be understood within a very short timeframe.
Some audiences will want full details of a study – the population, study design, comparisons, sample size, conflicts of interest and study limitations. For other audiences, this level of detail would be inappropriate – they simply need the most interesting findings to be set out in a clear format, driving them on to access the full study.
The level of detail is also partly determined by the communication channel used – on Twitter, short graphics work best but by email or on blog or LinkedIn posts, a fuller infographic format might be appropriate.
How should you format your content?
When producing content in an abbreviated format, it’s important to have a very clear structure, clean design and use concise language. Graphic elements should always be there to enhance and support the text, with a careful choice of font, colour and other visual elements to make the content readable and clear.
Choice of wording is very important – you need to retain clarity and accuracy while removing unnecessary jargon and wordiness. You can opt for less formal language to keep things short, and use bullet points, flow charts or other graphic elements to convey information clearly and concisely.
Once you have produced an abbreviated format from your content, it’s worth considering whether it can be broken into further assets to make it work harder. This might be isolated quotes or statistics, video animations or shorter versions of the same content.
How can your content work harder for you?
Abbreviated formats like infographics can be a very effective way of communicating the key findings from research, helping to disseminate the work and reach a wider audience. A marketing asset that grabs the attention with an interesting finding is inherently more shareable on social media, helping to broaden the appeal of your content and reach a wider audience.
Ultimately, abbreviated formats assist HCPs by reducing the amount of time it takes to identify interesting material and increasing the number of HCPs who encounter the details of the study. It is the responsibility of the HCP to ensure they look up the full details of the study. However, a well-written, well-designed asset is hard to beat in generating more attention.
The future of medical research communication is here, and it’s visual, concise and incredibly effective. By embracing these new formats, you’re not just adapting to the times – you’re actively shaping how medical knowledge is shared and applied in the real world. Your research has the power to change lives, but only if it reaches the right people. So why let it gather dust in academic journals when it could be making waves across the medical community?
Ready to amplify the impact of your research? Get in touch with Q Content today and let’s transform your valuable insights into attention-grabbing, easily digestible content that HCPs won’t just notice – they’ll eagerly consume and share. Your research deserves to be seen. Let’s make sure it is.