The Roles of YouTube and WhatsApp in Dementia Education for the Older Chinese American Population: Longitudinal Analysis

BACKGROUND: Dementia remains a stigmatized topic in the Chinese community. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to analyze and compare the usage of dementia educational YouTube videos and the modalities of video sharing over a 6-year period. METHODS: Dementia educational videos were uploaded to YouTube. Data was collected over a 6-year period. Results from the first 3 years were compared to those from the second 3 years using descriptive statistics and chi-square analysis. RESULTS: Over 6 years, the dementia educational videos generated a total watch time of 269,388 minutes, 37,690 views, and an average view duration of 7.1 minutes. Comparing the first and second 3-year periods of video performance data, there was a longer watch time (59,262 vs 210,126 minutes), more total views (9387 vs 28,303 views), and a longer average view duration (6.3 vs 7.4 minutes). Furthermore, WhatsApp has become a leading external traffic source and top sharing service, accounting for 43.5% (929/2137) and 67.0% (677/1011), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Over 6 years, YouTube has become an increasingly popular tool to deliver culturally sensitive dementia education to Chinese Americans. WhatsApp continues to be the preferred method of sharing dementia education and has become a top external traffic source to dementia educational videos. Taken together, these social media platforms are promising means of reducing the disparity in dementia knowledge in linguistically and culturally isolated populations.