Community-Based Intervention for Elderly Patients with Diabetes Mellitus: Assessing the Effectiveness of a YouTube Self-Education Program during the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background: This study assessed a YouTube self-education program implemented for elderly patients with diabetes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at Hypertension and Diabetes Registration and Education Center (HDREC) in Hongcheon, Korea.Methods: Content analysis was conducted on diabetes-related videos uploaded on the YouTube channel ‘I want to know blood vessels!’ and the satisfaction of 266 patients with diabetes who participated in the online self-education program via a cross-sectional study was evaluated.Results: From 2020 to 2022, the HDREC periodically delivered a total of 38 diabetes care-related videos to this channel. The mean length of individual videos was approximately 7 minutes, and the total screening time for all videos reached about 289 minutes. Participants viewed videos on lifestyle habits such as nutrition care (up to 619 times), clinical understanding regarding diabetes (up to 578 times). In terms of satisfaction with self-education, 100% of the participants answered satisfied, and 100% answered helpful from video contents. The post-score (mean, 3.55 points) was significantly higher than the pre-score (mean, 2.43 points) after comparing the differences in knowledge levels of 74 patients who participated in this education program in 2022.Conclusion: Despite the stringent quarantine policies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that our YouTube education strategy will be more accessible for diabetes self-care, and will improve treatment compliance of patients with diabetes. Further research should focus on devising a more appropriate method for developing educational content based on patients’ video inquiry patterns and preferences in future crises involving non-communicable diseases.