Combating Digital Health Inequality in the Time of Coronavirus

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only brought into sharp focus the vital role of digital information and technologies in enabling the public to live their everyday lives, but also the risk of excluding those who most need support. Those most at risk from COVID-19 are also those most likely to be digitally excluded—in particular older people and those in communities experiencing social and economic deprivation. In the United Kingdom, community organizations, including libraries, are responding to this challenge through digital inclusion initiatives, including supply of digital devices, support in developing digital skills, and provision of reliable, trustworthy information.

Keywords:

• Health inequalities
• digital divide
• digital exclusion
• digital health literacy
• coronavirus
• COVID-19
• United Kingdom

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bob Gann

Bob Gann is a consultant in digital health, specializing in digital inclusion and digital health inequalities. In England, he has been working with NHS Digital and Public Health England. In Wales he carried out a review of Digital Inclusion in Health and Care in Wales and continues to advise the Digital Communities Wales program. Bob was program director for the NHS Widening Digital Participation program and strategy director for the NHS website www.nhs.uk. He is Visiting Professor in health informatics at Plymouth University.