Digital Health Inclusion Project (DHIP)

The internet has become an important part of daily life. If you try to book a GP appointment you are encouraged to do this online. However,1 in 5 people in England don't have the skills needed to carry out basic tasks online. Others cannot afford devices or internet access, or don't feel motivated to use the internet for health or other services. This is known as "digital health exclusion" (not being able to make the most of the internet for health) and can make it harder for people to access healthcare and take care of themselves.

What is even more worrying is that groups who already suffer the worst health are those most likely to experience digital heath exclusion (older people, people with less income or education, and people who don't have English as a first language). There is a danger that the disadvantages they experience will get worse if the digital divide widens. That is why the government and local councils are supporting community organisations to help people overcome the barriers to accessing the internet (digital health inclusion programmes) which involve learning how to use apps (online applications or software programmes that are designed to perform a specific function) and websites with other members of their community. There hasn't been enough research on whether these programmes improve people's health (their impact), the reasons why they are helpful or unhelpful, and how they could be improved. If we had a better understanding of this, we could make sure users get the most benefit from them and help authorities to make decisions about funding programmes so that the greatest number of people will benefit.

The aim of the research is therefore to better understand the impact of community-based digital health inclusion programmes on health inequalities (differences in health) in disadvantaged groups and to explore ways to measure this. We will talk to people who use the programmes, their staff and volunteers, and people in authority to come up with recommendations for more accurately measuring programme impacts. We will work with members of the public and professionals from different backgrounds to make sure we include everyone’s views. Through this research we will develop suggestions for how these programmes work and where they might need to be improved to work for people who are most likely to be digitally excluded. 

We will share our findings with different groups in different formats to make sure we reach as many people as possible and the results are easy to understand. We will meet with NHS staff and managers, local councillors, government ministers, members of parliament and charities to advise them on how to improve support for people to access health services and information online.

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