In January 2015, Liverpool Health Partners brought together a range of speakers from the EU, commissioners, public and private sector locally, nationally and internationally for Health is Wealth, a two day conference looking at the business of health. As part of the conference, Digital Futures: Delivering Growth workshop examined eHealth and the important issues, questions and considerations around the industry. Each panelist spoke of the importance of digital inclusion. How far does confidence and access to digital technology have to be a factor for digital SMEs to think about when they are developing products?
EHealth, or mHealth, is a growing part of the strategy of how we deal with the UK’s health and social care challenges. With smaller budgets, providers have to think creatively and plan ahead. An ageing population means a generation of people who actively want to live independently for longer. Yet this current ageing demographic also contains the highest number of people unable or unwilling to go online. In 2013 42% of over 65s used the internet. The figure is growing but how do practitioners and developers work together to ensure the people targeted with using the new technology to help them live independently for longer are confident enough to use it everyday in their ow homes, or even want to?
Robert Madelin from the Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology at the EU Commission chaired the opening discussion on ensuring products and services meet consumers’ needs. He believes digital inclusion is a vital part of eHealth’s evolution.
“One in three people (across the continent) have never used the internet. They don’t have access or they don’t have the instinct to have access. This is a crucial part of the problem. Ehealth is part of the solution and it means being in touch with these digitally deprived people. The digital solution has to include holding the hands of these people and teaching them how to do it”.
Paul Clitheroe from Mi Liverpool reflects on this with a Liverpool context. “A great barrier to citizens in Liverpool is accessing technology. We have established 53 digital hubs in Liverpool. It isn’t just about tools or confidence but finding a reason for people to be online. Health isn’t good enough. They (use the internet) to watch videos and play games. It means we have to be cunning in terms of how we digitally include people in the city”.
Mandy Redvers-Rowe from Collective Encounters agrees but emphasises the importance of accessibility, “If we go down the route of digital eHealth apps and engaging with health apps then we need to ensure that those apps are accessible for everyone with screen reading software. There is a lot (available) that has become inaccessible rather than inclusive. At my GP’s surgery I am supposed to use a touch screen to say I’ve arrived. (As a visually impaired individual) I need a calling system. It’s all visual and there is no recognition of people using services who may be blind or with a visual impairment”.
For SMEs this can present an opportunity in terms of developing apps that can be adopted or adapted to improve accessibility. Dr Maurice Smith, a Liverpool CCG Government Body Member and Executive Lead for Integrated Care, reiterates the importance of making technology accessible to the marketplace and ensuring that clear communication is made to SMEs. “The challenge for us is not to say we know the answer, but to know where to look to find the answer”. There are, he predicts, opportunities for growth and the SMEs can get together and have conversations, to provide insight into the solutions out there, take the need on board and make the strategic vision accessible.
Accessibility, he notes, isn’t just disability but is also linked to illiteracy.
Yet there remain challenges for SMEs when considering accessibility and inclusivity. Sue Waller from Knowledge Powered Solutions reflects on digital inclusion saying, “On the technology side it can double or triple the cost depending on the level of accessibility. It’s something to consider in the industry. The cost from the SME side to achieve those accessibility standards is so prohibitive”.
However, Max Zadow from Future Coders believes to reduce the cost of accessibility is it vital to ensure it is part of the strategy from the beginning, rather than retrofit an app or product to make it accessible once it has been produced.
“It is more expensive (to make products accessible) but it is cheaper if you start off in the right place. It is important to recognise that older people and disabled people need to be there from the start – this (reiterates) the importance of Living Labs. It’s about centering it in the real lived experience from a disabled or older person before development. It’s essential and cheaper in the long run. It means you know the challenges and you don’t retrofit later on”.
Do you have a view on digital inclusion and eHealth? Email us at info@ehealthcluster.co.uk or leave your comment below.