To be digitally included, and specifically to be able to access digital health services requires:
- access to secure, reliable, affordable internet
- access to a suitable device to access digital services
- the digital skills, confidence and equipment to navigate the online environment safely and knowledgeably
- the motivation to use digital services
- the health literacy knowledge to access, assess and use health information
People facing digital exclusion tend to be from deprived, older, disabled, or vulnerable communities such as asylum seekers and travellers. For example, data shows that:
- 2.1 million people who are offline, are older, with a health condition and have no formal qualifications
- 5.2 million (10%) who have low digital skills, 13 million (25%) who have very low digital skills are older and from deprived communities
- 60+ adults are almost twice as likely as those aged between 50-59 to lack confidence in their ability to use the Internet
The cost-of-living crises has made digital exclusion more common. In 2022 one million people cancelled their broadband internet.
People facing digital exclusion, are the same communities who have high use of emergency services and poor health outcomes:
- 2 million unplanned admissions a year for people over 65, accounting for 68 per cent of hospital emergency bed days
- People in deprived areas are more likely to develop several long-term health conditions, 13 years on average earlier than those in affluent areas
Digital exclusion is now considered a social determinant of health, and overlaps with other determinants of health, including health literacy.