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Tackling digital exclusion and health literacy: How libraries can help bridge the gap

In today’s digital age, managing your health online should be easier than ever – yet for many, it’s still a challenge.

Digital exclusion and low health literacy are significant barriers stopping people from fully engaging with their health via NHS.UK or the NHS App. So, why is this happening, and what can we do about it?

The link between digital exclusion and health inequality

Digital exclusion is now recognised as a social determinant of health, meaning it directly affects a person’s ability to look after their wellbeing. It’s closely linked to another important factor: health literacy.

Health literacy isn’t just about being able to read – it’s about having the skills, knowledge, and confidence to access, understand, and use health information.

43% of adults in England struggle with low health literacy, and that number jumps to 61% when the information includes numbers as well as words. This means many people find it hard to navigate the healthcare system, especially online.

Consider these statistics:

Inclusive digital healthcare

Mitigating against digital exclusion is 1 of 5 key priority areas NHS England has put in place for tackling health inequalities and underpins the work of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme (HiQiP). As part of this NHS England has published the Framework for digital inclusion.

To make the most of digital health services, people need a few essential things:

  1. Access to reliable, affordable internet.
  2. A suitable device to access digital services.
  3. Basic digital skills and confidence to navigate the online world safely and effectively.
  4. The motivation to use digital services in the first place.
  5. Health literacy skills to understand and use health information.

Without these, the gap between those who can access healthcare online, and those who can’t, will continue to widen.

A 10 Year Health Plan is planned for publication in Spring 2025. NHS England and The Department of Health and Social Care have formed working groups to inform the plan’s direction and implementation.

The Health Inequalities Improvement Programme leads the group focused on Equity and Inclusivity and is focused on developing new principles for how care should be designed and delivered to significantly improve healthcare equity and address disparities in access, patient experience and outcomes.

This will build on the work already taking place in the NHS.

Good Things Foundation is a national charity which supports organisations to address digital exclusion in their communities. This includes ‘Learn My Way’ – free bite-sized courses covering online basics, including for health.

Any local charity, organisation or service provider can join Good Things Foundation’s National Digital Inclusion Network and access resources (including Learn My Way, mobile data, and devices) for free.

Building on national efforts to improve digital inclusion

Trust is crucial when it comes to discussing technology and healthcare.

According to the 2023 Ipsos Veracity Index, librarians are the third most trusted profession, with 86% of the public trusting them to tell the truth. Only nurses and airline pilots rank higher. We know that libraries offer a safe accessible place where people can use computers or free wifi.

To address digital health exclusion and reduce health inequalities, NHS England is teaming up with public libraries. By working with librarians we can begin to break down some of the barriers to digital health access.

We want to provide library staff with the tools and support they need to help people access their NHS account either using NHS.uk or the NHS App. By empowering librarians, we can assist more people in managing their health online.

This partnership has the potential to improve health outcomes by ensuring no one is left behind in the digital world. Libraries, already community hubs, are in a perfect position to help bridge the digital health gap and support better healthcare access for everyone.

You can see the list of participating library services on the NHS Knowledge and Library Services website.

Vin Diwakar is the National Director of Transformation (interim) in the National Transformation Directorate, and leads on the secondary care portfolio in the National Improvement Directorate.

He provides clinical leadership to improvement and transformation programmes, including those which use improvement science, technology, digital, and data. He leads teams which are supporting improvement and transformation of a number of different clinical areas including diagnostics, urgent, emergency, acute and planned care and is responsible for improving clinical effectiveness.

In his previous role, he provided clinical leadership to London’s health and care system and was a key member of the multiprofessional regional team which led the capital through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Bola Owolabi

Professor Bola Owolabi (MRCGP, MFPH Hon, FRSPH) is Director of the National Healthcare Inequalities Improvement Programme at NHS England. She works as a General Practitioner in the Midlands.

Bola has particular interest in reducing healthcare inequalities through integrated care models, service transformation, and using data insights for quality improvement. She has spearheaded NHS England’s Core20PLUS5 approach to narrowing healthcare inequalities.

Internationally, Bola was a member of the Danish Ambassador’s Tour De Health – a ten nation healthcare policy leaders’ summit. Additionally, she was the UK representative on the Commonwealth Fund/Academy Health Tour 2023, exploring equity in national health policy across the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

She was previously National Speciality Advisor for Older People and Integrated Person-Centred Care at NHS England, where she led the Anticipatory Care workstream of the National Ageing Well Programme. She collaborated with teams across NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care as part of the Covid-19 pandemic response.

Bola is an alumna of Ashridge Executive Education/Hult International Business School and holds a Masters degree with distinction in Leadership (Quality Improvement). She also received an NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership for Clinicians.

Bola is an Honorary Professor at the Institute of Applied Health Research, College of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Birmingham. She is also a Vice President of the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH).