Did you know that 47% of UK adults lack essential digital skills?
These skills can include communicating digitally, handling information and content, transacting, problem solving and being safe and legal online.
Following our Digital Inclusion event in September, we were keen to join the Lakes College’s Student Digital Inclusion Event on 12 October.
The event was organised by the Let’s Get Digital West Cumbria project, and Millie and Claire went along to represent Healthwatch Cumberland alongside a range of partner health and well-being organisations.
The interactive event aimed to help students understand what digital exclusion is, who it affects, why it matters and how it shows up in every profession and sector.
In breakout groups, the business students drilled down into digital inclusion and digital exclusion, considering:
- How they could help people at risk of digital exclusion (8 million adults are without the foundation level of digital skills)*
- How they could ensure they had up-to-date skills in rapidly changing tech
- How to ensure that their future customers and clients were digitally included
- The need to keep their own skills up to date
- How digital services could open up access for some people previously excluded
The Healthwatch team updated their group on Healthwatch Cumberland’s role and recent work on our Trans Voices and Youth Mental Health projects.
Digital Inclusion is important to the Healthwatch Cumberland team, as many health and care services are making changes to become more digital. From using the NHS app, to booking an appointment through an E-Consult service, or researching a care home online, there are man ways that digital skills can help improve people’s access to better health and care.
Find out more about digital inclusion and healthcare in our article: Digital Health: The future of healthcare
* Foundational digital skills: Turn on a device and log on, use different device settings to make easier to use, use controls on your device, update and change passwords, keep log on information and passwords secure, connect to a wi-fi network, find and open different apps on your device, open an internet browser to fund and use websites