Background Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is a world-leading comprehensive cancer centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Work has been undertaken to improve its performance in Advance Care Planning (ACP).

Swinburne University of Technology is a large and diverse university with a desire to bring about positive change. It fosters real-world industry connections with students and has strengths in design and innovation.

An identified gap at Peter Mac was in the education of both staff and patients and families about ACP.

Animated videos have been shown to improve short-term health literacy goals in the healthcare setting.

Methods Animated educational videos about ACP were codesigned by undergraduate Bachelor of Design (Motion Design) students, academic staff from the School of Design and Architecture at Swinburne University of Technology, and Peter Mac clinical staff. The content was written by Peter Mac clinical staff and the animation was designed and developed by the undergraduate students in response to an initial brief. The visual design of each frame and the timing of motion were carefully considered to ensure clear communication of the key messages and goals of each video. Voiceovers were recorded to accompany the videos with accompanying music to set the tone.

Volunteer staff and consumers watched the videos and responded to a brief survey.

Results The use of animated videos to explain Advance Care Planning was acceptable to both staff and consumers. Suggestions as to when and where the video should be made available to be most effective were collected.

Conclusion This project demonstrates how a health service provider partnered with an academic institution to produce ACP educational videos for staff and patients without budgetary expenditure. The resultant animated videos were acceptable to consumers and staff and provided undergraduate university Design students with valuable workplace experience.