Bringing ‘MUST’ to Life
Ruby Turner, Pre-registration Dietitian, University of Winchester
Five pre-registration dietitians at the University of Winchester have recently had the chance to work with Dr Emily Walters, BAPEN Malnutrition Officer, as part of a BAPEN placement. This article details their experience.
Our task was to take the online information about ‘MUST’ – currently held in PDFs and calculators online – and transform it into an engaging video format. After an introduction to BAPEN and their vision, we spent time analysing and discussing the ‘MUST’ pages on the BAPEN website. Is it easy to read? Is it easy to find what you are looking for? Does it appeal to its target audience? We agreed that while the site is professional and detailed, it is not accessible to all: those without an academic background, or whose first language is not English, may not find it easy to read. When clicking through the site, it is not immediately clear where the key resources are, such as the ‘MUST’ flowchart and guide. We looked at the BAPEN Malnutrition Self-Screening Tool website too and thought that it could also be made more accessible and appealing.
To gain the opinions of the wider public and workforce, one of the team designed a questionnaire about the websites, which we released via the BAPEN ‘pre-reg’ Instagram account: @BAPEN_prereg. These results would help us to see how the sites were received by other people, and whether this matched up to our thoughts.
The fundamental question, however, was: Is a website the only place where this information should be? If put into videos, could it be easier to understand – and to promote? With this in mind, Emily had arranged an exciting prospect: a professional film crew. We now had 4 weeks to design and write two videos about ‘MUST’ screening and to promote our work on Instagram.
We started making storyboards to get our thoughts on paper. Initially, we focused on graphics, stock videos and text, but, with filming day on the horizon, Emily encouraged us to turn our ideas into a story format which could be brought to life. Gradually, we translated our initial thoughts into a film script. Our aim was to explain how to screen and make it clear that it is a simple process for both healthcare professionals and the public.
The day with First Sight Media was one to be remembered. With lights, moving cameras, microphones and last-minute script changes, we were put out of our comfort zone and gained a wealth of new skills. Our usual clinical skills room was transformed into a clinic room – and then a living room! By the end of the day, we had seen how different professions can work together, sharing expertise and communicating our vision.
We continue to promote our work via the @BAPEN_prereg Instagram page, and we are writing our findings and experiences in a report. We will soon be passing the baton to the next BAPEN placement students from the University of East Anglia, who will continue to raise awareness of malnutrition and ‘MUST’ through the Instagram page.
The videos will be available on the BAPEN website and YouTube channel soon. To find out more about BAPEN Pre-registration Dietitians’ work please follow @BAPEN_prereg on Instagram.