COMPANY
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region and one of the newest education, research and patient care facilities in the world.
INDUSTRY
- Education
USE CASE
- Brand Awareness
PRODUCT USE
- Ion
CONTENT FORMATS
- eBook, White Paper
THE INSTITUTION
The CU Anschutz Medical Campus, CU School of Medicine and the Colorado School of Public Health.
THE CHALLENGE
Did you know that it takes decades for only a fraction of medical research to translate into clinical practice? Training and educating researchers and clinicians in how to disseminate and implement new evidence faster and appropriately is a key objective for the Colorado Research in Implementation Science Program (CRISP) at the Adult and Child Center for Health Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS).
The Center’s strong educational mission highlights collaboration with other educational & research-focused institutions for a unique approach to disseminating their vast amount of resources and information.
In the Spring of 2014 the University decided to explore new ways to distribute content, engage their audience and spread the reach of its knowledge. Traditionally, educational institutions share content through scientific publications and forums, so this required a new mindset to overcome the challenge of innovative new approaches. The Center determined a web-based, interactive experience would allow them to try a new method of content dissemination while still maintaining academic and field expectations in general.
THE SOLUTION
An associate professor at the institution was actively searching for digital marketing models and platforms that could be adapted for education delivery and outreach. She came across one of Ion’s interactive white papers and saw that the content was developed with some of the same interactivity and user experience techniques that the Center was envisioning for their own content.
Together, Ion and the University team concepted an eBook that would serve as a modern, web-based destination for researchers, students and others in the academic audience. Breaking free of a long, static PDF document full of research, the eBook would provide a highly visual, responsive web experience that would encourage content consumption and engagement. The university viewed the eBook as an opportunity to serve as a rich research dissemination tool as well as a differentiator—standing out and highlighting the content in a manner that was unique in the field.
“There is a lot we can learn in how to deliver educational material using digital platforms from the private sector, and this is the way the new generation is learning so we want to capitalize on that. It’s exciting to think about how we can deliver new content using these interactive approaches.”
THE RESULTS
The resulting eBook, which included copy, images, videos and links to national resources, was shared with the University’s constituency as well as posted within resource arsenals and in national industry newsletters. In addition to the original intended audience of public health researchers, the eBook is also now utilized by two secondary audiences—students doing work in the field and the medical community.
The team recently presented their program in Washington D.C. at an Academy Health and the National Institutes of Health where the eBook was highlighted in their presentation on training initiatives. The health services and public health field includes a wide array of disciplines which means a lot of silos. However, the eBook’s interactivity helped merge those silos by serving as a modern researcher and content resource. It also proved to be a cost-effective solution without sacrificing the robust nature of material tied to a research-intensive field.
THE NEXT STEP
The University of Colorado has a strong focus on using its own infrastructure to maximize collaboration. Because of that mindset, the eBook was a great logical step for them to modify how they disseminate content to their audiences. The interactivity and responsiveness were well-received by their audiences and demonstrated that evaluating new and innovative methods to present academic research is both worthwhile and effective.
Since the project was launched, the Center is now tracking analytics to gain valuable insight into the eBook’s reach and effectiveness with its audiences.
Elaine Morrato, DrPH, MPH, from the Colorado School of Public Health said, “There is a lot we can learn in how to deliver educational material using digital platforms from the private sector, and this is the way the new generation is learning so we want to capitalize on that. It’s exciting to think about how we can deliver new content using these interactive approaches.”
MORE ABOUT THE INSTITUTION:
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus is the only comprehensive academic health sciences center in Colorado, the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region and one of the newest education, research and patient care facilities in the world. Home to almost 19,000 employees, more than 4,100 degree-seeking students and two nationally recognized hospitals, CU Anschutz trains the health sciences workforce of the future and fuels the economy. CU Anschutz features schools of medicine, pharmacy, dental medicine and public health, a college of nursing and a graduate school.
CU School of Medicine
Faculty at the University of Colorado School of Medicine work to advance science and improve care. These faculty members include physicians, educators and scientists at University of Colorado Health, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Denver Health, National Jewish Health, and the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The school is located on the Anschutz Medical Campus, one of four campuses in the University of Colorado system. To learn more about the medical school’s care, education, research and community engagement, visit its website.
Colorado School of Public Health
The Colorado School of Public Health is the first and only accredited school of public health in the Rocky Mountain Region, attracting top-tier faculty and students from across the country, and providing a vital contribution towards ensuring our region’s health and well-being. Collaboratively formed in 2008 by the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the University of Northern Colorado, the Colorado School of Public Health provides innovative research, training and community service to actively address public health issues including chronic disease, access to healthcare, environmental threats, emerging infectious diseases, and costly injuries.
