"Stay tuned”: A content and thematic analysis of brain injury videos on YouTube

Abstract

Purpose: The existing literature shows that people with brain injury, health professionals, and the public use social media to share and access content. However, it is not yet understood how brain injury is explored on the social media platform YouTube. The purpose of this study was to examine videos about brain injury on YouTube to determine: (a) who posted videos, (b) content categories of videos, and (c) how brain injury was represented.   Methods: Videos related to brain injury on YouTube were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Visual descriptions of videos were generated using visual data analysis. These visual descriptions and video transcripts were then thematically analysed.   Results: Educational, lived experience, and promotional videos were identified in the sample of 100 videos. Medical organisations and hospitals posted the largest amount of videos. An overarching theme of ‘Video tells a story’ was generated from the data which contained three themes: (1) we choose how the story is told; (2) recovery is a process; and (3) it changed my life.   Conclusion: The results reflect the growing use of YouTube for health communication, and provide an insight into how brain injury is discussed on YouTube. YouTube may have a storytelling role for brain injury videos, particularly relevant for people with brain injury wishing to share their story and health professionals sharing information about brain injury. The findings could inform further research, including the development of strategies for health professionals to create engaging and effective brain injury resources on YouTube.