How to Make a Get Well Video for Someone Who Is Sick
- Denis Devigne
- 5 hours ago
- 6 min read
When someone is sick, friends and family usually want to reach out. The difficult part is finding a way to show support without giving the person another conversation, update, or social obligation to manage.
A phone call may arrive when they’re resting. A visit can require more energy than they have. Even a caring text can leave them feeling like they should respond.
A Get Well video gathers messages from several people into one place. The recipient can watch when they feel ready, pause when they need a break, and return to it without having to answer everyone individually.
The best support doesn’t only express care. It respects how much energy the person has available to receive it.
When a Get Well video can help
A group video can be helpful when someone is:
Recovering from surgery or an injury
Staying in the hospital
Receiving treatment
Living with a chronic illness
Facing an uncertain diagnosis
Limiting visits because of fatigue or infection risk
Separated from friends and family by distance
Receiving hospice or palliative care
The video doesn’t need to be long or elaborate. Its value comes from familiar faces, voices, stories, and everyday updates arriving together.
Someone may watch the whole video at once. They may also watch two messages, rest, and come back another day. Giving them that control is part of what makes a recorded video easier to receive than a live gathering.
Start with what the person would welcome
Before inviting contributors, think about the recipient.
Would they enjoy a surprise, or would they prefer to know the video is being made? Are there people they wouldn’t want included? Would a light and funny video feel comforting, or would something quieter suit the situation better?
When you’re unsure, ask a close family member, caregiver, or trusted friend. They may also know whether the person has a difficult appointment coming up or a day when receiving the video would feel especially helpful.
The goal is to create something for the recipient, not something everyone else feels good about sending.
You can also remove pressure in the delivery message:
We made this for you to watch whenever you feel up to it. There’s no need to reply or send anyone an update.
That one sentence lets the person receive the care without feeling responsible for managing everyone’s reaction.
Decide what you want the video to offer
“Get well soon” may fit a short illness or straightforward recovery. It doesn’t fit every health experience.
Before asking people to record, decide what the video should give the recipient.
It could offer:
Encouragement during treatment
Companionship during a long recovery
Funny stories and a break from medical conversations
Updates from everyday life
Gratitude and appreciation
Reassurance that they haven’t been forgotten
Love and connection when recovery is uncertain
Choosing a general direction helps contributors record messages that work together without sounding identical.
It also keeps the video from becoming a series of people asking for health updates or repeating the same advice.
Give contributors a simple prompt
People rarely struggle to record because they don’t care. They struggle because a blank record button makes them wonder how serious, cheerful, or emotional they’re expected to sound.
A useful prompt removes that pressure.
Ask each person to share one of these:
A favorite memory
Something they appreciate about the recipient
A story that still makes them laugh
An ordinary update from home, work, or school
A message of support with no expectation of a reply
Something they’re looking forward to doing together
Something they’ve always wanted the person to know
Every message doesn’t need to focus on the illness. In fact, a video filled entirely with treatment talk can become tiring.
A friend describing something ridiculous that happened at work, a grandchild showing off a drawing, or a neighbour giving an update about the garden can help the recipient feel connected to life outside appointments and recovery.
For more help finding the right words, read our guide to thinking-of-you messages for illness, hard times, and just because.
Keep messages short and natural
Ask contributors to speak as though they’re talking directly to the person, rather than delivering a formal speech.
A short message might include:
A simple opening
One memory, thought, or update
A warm closing with no request for a response
For example:
Hi Maria, I’ve been thinking about you this week. I drove past the restaurant where we celebrated your birthday and remembered how hard you laughed when they brought out the wrong cake. I’m sending lots of love. There’s no need to reply.
Small details make a message feel personal. The restaurant, the wrong cake, and the shared laugh say more than several minutes of general encouragement.
Natural pauses, laughter, and imperfect starts are welcome. The person recording doesn’t need studio lighting or a memorized script. They only need to sound like themselves.
Let one person handle the coordination
When someone is sick, they shouldn’t have to organize the support being offered to them.
Choose one organizer to:
Invite contributors
Explain what kind of message to record
Answer questions
Send reminders
Collect photos and video clips
Decide when the video is ready
Deliver it to the recipient or caregiver
This gives friends and family one point of contact and protects the recipient from repetitive questions.
It also helps when several people want an update. A designated family member or caregiver can decide what information should be shared, while contributors focus on sending support rather than asking the recipient to explain what’s happening again.
Keep emotional pressure out of the video
People may feel scared, helpless, or upset about someone’s illness. Those feelings are real, but the recipient shouldn’t have to comfort everyone watching from the outside.
Encourage contributors to offer care without placing emotional work on the person who is sick.
Avoid messages that:
Demand optimism
Promise a recovery no one can guarantee
Offer unsolicited medical advice
Ask for a detailed update
Describe how devastated the contributor feels
Pressure the person to “keep fighting”
Suggest that recovery depends on having the right attitude
People sometimes use phrases such as “stay strong” or “keep fighting” themselves. In that case, following their language may feel natural. When you don’t know how they feel about it, support, companionship, and specific memories are safer places to begin.
How to create a Get Well video with VidDay
VidDay gives friends and family one private link where they can upload video messages and photos.
Contributors don’t need to download an app, and the organizer doesn’t have to collect files through separate texts, emails, and group chats.
To create one:
Share the private invitation link with friends and family.
Add a recording prompt and submission date.
Track which messages have arrived and send reminders when needed.
Arrange the clips and photos in the order you want.
Preview the finished video before sharing it.
You might begin with immediate family, then move through friends, coworkers, neighbours, classmates, teammates, or community members.
Another option is to alternate emotional messages with funny stories and everyday updates so the video has room to breathe.
We’ve seen that contributors send better messages when the organizer gives them one clear prompt instead of simply asking them to “say something nice.”
A Get Well video doesn’t have to promise recovery
VidDay uses the name Get Well video because it’s familiar, but these videos aren’t limited to temporary illnesses.
A video can support someone living with a chronic condition, receiving long-term treatment, entering hospice, or facing a terminal diagnosis.
One VidDay customer, Jeff Coveney, created a video for his 78-year-old father after he was hospitalized and family members were unable to visit.
“We used VidDay to pull together five minutes of ‘Get Well’ wishes from friends and family. Within 24 hours of starting the process, we had a fully edited video from VidDay. Since we couldn’t see him, the nurses brought him a tablet so he could see all the messages.”
Jeff’s father passed away the following day, just hours after watching the video. It gave his family one final chance to surround him with familiar faces, voices, and love.
In situations where recovery is uncertain, contributors can focus on:
Love
Gratitude
Shared memories
Everyday connection
The person’s influence on their lives
Reassurance that they’re still part of the conversation
The video doesn’t need to predict what comes next. It can simply give people a way to say what matters while the recipient has the opportunity to hear it.
Get Well videos are free with VidDay
VidDay offers Get Well videos free of charge so friends and family can create one without adding another expense during an already difficult time.
People from different parts of the recipient’s life can contribute through the same private link, while one organizer manages the project and shares the completed video when the timing feels right.
Make support easier to receive
A Get Well video works best when several people want to show up for someone, but the recipient doesn’t have the energy to manage visits, calls, or separate conversations.
Choose contributors with care. Give them specific prompts. Include memories and ordinary updates alongside words of support. Most importantly, make it clear that the recipient doesn’t need to reply, provide an update, or react in any particular way.
They can simply press play when they’re ready and hear the voices of people who care about them.