4 key ways to maximise the effectiveness of your health messaging

Effective communication is one of those evergreen priorities in almost any given field you’d care to mention – but it’s particularly important in the health sector. Health messaging displayed on LED screens has the potential to reach a wide audience, across environments like hospitals, clinics, or public spaces. And if you’re considering using digital LED displays for your own healthcare purposes or settings, it can help to know exactly how to get the best out of them.

With more than 40 years of experience behind us, that’s exactly where we can help here at Scanlite. Here are the four top strategies we’d suggest to optimise your health with through LED displays.

Place your LED screen near high-traffic health areas

It might sound obvious, but we’d be remiss not to mention it. The effectiveness of your health messaging largely depends on where you’re able to place your LED screen. It’s crucial to install your screen in areas with high foot traffic, particularly in healthcare settings.

Waiting rooms in hospitals, GP surgeries, and pharmacies are unsurprisingly some of the most common locations, as these are places where people tend to have downtime and are more likely to engage with health messages. Using high-traffic areas ensures that people have a higher chance of seeing and absorbing the information, and that increased downtime makes it more likely they will act on the key messages.

Now, when you’re choosing your location, don’t forget to consider the visibility of the screen from various angles. A screen placed at eye level in a well-lit area will maximise its potential to reach a broader audience. Placing the screen near information desks or in corridors where people naturally pass by can also work wonders for boosting exposure, which can help lead to higher engagement rates.

Highlight key health messages for specific conditions

This is one of the most universal rules of effectively deploying LED screens, and it counts for the health sector too – namely, that health messaging is most effective when it’s tailored to the audience’s needs. You can have maximum impact by focusing on key health issues that are most relevant to the local population or the demographic you’re targeting. That’s largely because more specific messages can drive targeted actions – the trick, of course, is to make sure they’re not too niche. For example, this applies whether you’re promoting flu vaccinations during the winter months, raising awareness about mental health resources, or encouraging people to get screened for common conditions like diabetes.

One of the most important things to bear in mind – be mindful of the language used. You’ll want to make sure it’s clear, accessible, and culturally appropriate for the audience you’re addressing. For example, a message about flu shots aimed at older adults should use a tone and terminology that resonates with that group. Providing specific information about how people can take action, such as where to get vaccinated or how to book an appointment, is also essential to enhance the message’s effectiveness.

You may also want to consider different cultural backgrounds, and how that might influence the mindset of the people you’re trying to reach. For instance, studies have found some countries to have higher levels of “vaccine hesitancy” than others, so if you’re trying to communicate with people from the latter group, it’s worth considering what pre-conceptions they may hold in advance.

Use health-related statistics to emphasise key messages

Numbers can be powerful tools when it comes to health messaging. Displaying relevant health statistics on your LED screen can be a great way to capture the attention of your audience, and drive home the importance of taking action. For example, showing statistics on the number of people affected by a specific disease or presenting the effectiveness of preventive measures like vaccinations can motivate people to take the necessary steps to protect their health.

People often respond to visual cues, especially when they see how widespread or urgent an issue is. For instance, a statistic showing how many people are impacted by mental health issues in the local area can help reduce stigma and encourage people to seek help. Similarly, displaying the success rate of a particular health intervention, such as a screening programme or vaccination campaign, can reassure people and prompt them to take action.

Provide urgent health information in real-time

In healthcare settings, there are plenty moments of moments that demand urgent, real-time information. LED screens can play a critical role in conveying this information with maximum efficiency – and in the worst case scenario, it can sometimes make all the difference to a life-saving situation. LED digital displays are often used for emergency alerts, or health advisories related to outbreaks. (The relatively recent Covid-19 pandemic is obviously the main one that may well spring to mind.)

There’s a variety of similar purposes, too – LED digital screens can be used to convey updates on local health services, such as hospital bed availability, vaccination clinics, or other critical healthcare resources. That’s where their adaptability comes in handy – unlike brochures and leaflets, for example, digital screens can be changed in a moment’s notice.

That’s particularly useful for developing emergencies, where the official guidance may change according to new information. Sometimes this can take days to come through – and sometimes, the messaging may need to be changed in just minutes. As far as assets go for public health and safety, LED screens are truly unbeatable.

And if you’ve got any more specific questions about how to get the best out of your healthcare digital signage, that’s exactly where we can help here at Scanlite. We tailor each of our solutions to the specific requirements of the project. With more than 40 years of experience behind us, we know our digital signage inside out, including the many ways in which it can be used to achieve your goals as a health organisation.

To find out more how we can help you, feel free to give us a call today on 01253 302723, or email us. Let’s kickstart your success this year!