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Google is rolling out two new features for YouTube Health in India — health source information panels and health content shelves.
The new features, which will be available in English and Hindi, are meant to provide context cues aimed at helping people more easily access videos from verified health sources.
“Health source information panels will provide context to help viewers identify videos from authoritative sources,” Dr Garth Graham, MD, Director and Global Head of Healthcare and Public Health Partnerships, YouTube said in a blog post.
Health labels
These health labels will show up under videos from accredited health organisations and government entities. This is meant to help viewers better evaluate the source of information and distinguish credible health content on YouTube.
Health content shelves will more effectively highlight videos from authoritative sources when viewers search for specific health topics.
For instance, when users search for specific health conditions such as heart disease, breast cancer among many others, a new content shelf in search will surface videos related to the relevant health topic from accredited health organisations and government entities.
“These shelves are intended to visually separate and highlight authoritative videos in search,” Graham explained.
YouTube Health initially used a set of principles developed by a panel of experts convened by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in the US to identify which sources to include in these new health features. The World Health Organisation and NAM recently convened a meeting of interdisciplinary experts from around the world to review and validate the principles for global application.
“Video can help make complicated, clinical topics understandable and accessible in ways that text simply cannot. YouTube has the potential to transform how healthcare providers inform, educate, and motivate people to live healthier lives. That’s why we’re investing to grow our platform’s role as an effective, engaging, and trusted tool for public health communication through principles, partnerships and product development. We remain committed to our mission to provide equitable access to highly authoritative health information that is evidence-based, culturally relevant and engaging,” said Graham.
YouTube has created a destination for users to find reliable content in over eight Indian languages from authoritative sources featuring content from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, leading hospitals and popular creators.
“Since February 2020, YouTube’s information panels and efforts to help users find authoritative Covid-19 information across YouTube’s homepage have been shown more than 250 billion times in India,” as per the blog post.
Over the last year, YouTube Health has partnered with health organisations such as Apollo Hospitals and Max Healthcare, as well as with clinicians and creators, and continued to increase the accessibility of high quality health content on the platform. In 2020, YouTube Health also launched health panels for depression and anxiety.
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