Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care System (BSol ICS) has developed a framework to support the development of citizen-facing digital health services across Birmingham and Solihull, as part of their Digital Strategy. In 2023, The Active Wellbeing Society's (TAWS) Research Team was commissioned by Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) alongside five other local organisations to talk to Birmingham and Solihull residents about digital health services.
The research was of particular importance given that 46% of the region’s population are non/limited users of the internet, whilst 25% of disabled adults have never used the internet. In addition, the region needs 280,000 more people to gain essential digital skills to be in line with the national average (West Midlands Digital Roadmap 2024-2027, West Midlands Combined Authority).
The research therefore used co-design and co-production methods to engage with those who are seldom heard, i.e. people who are under-represented people from certain services and who are less likely to be heard and may be at risk of digital exclusion. We trained a number of local people as Community Researchers, who we worked with to co-design and facilitate three focus groups, with people 1) with long-term physical health conditions; 2) with long-term mental health conditions; and 3) who are unemployed and/or in receipt of Universal Credit.
The research highlighted some key issues and concerns around using digital technologies:
- The efficiency of digital services as well as the reduced risk of spreading germs due to patients not having go into clinical settings were seen as positives that needed to be balanced with the risk of digital services excluding people through cost and lack of digital skills.
- Concerns around the risks of misdiagnosis in digital appointments and the accurate interpretation of medical information without a medical professional being physically present.
- Concerns about online security and privacy when using digital services.
- The need for patient choice relating to how they access health services (remotely or in-person) and how information is shared (e.g. test results) to ensure needs are met.
TAWS staff worked closely with BVSC throughout the research, taking part in co-production training and regular steering group meetings, and received positive feedback about the delivery of our work.
“Working with TAWS on the Digital Inclusion Project has been a pleasure. The team were always open to new ideas and engaged enthusiastically with different methods of working to achieve true co-production. Feedback was always timely, considered and insightful. The Project was enriched by their wide network of service users, and their creative approach, professional research and reporting skills.”
