Closing the Digital Divide
Digital Exclusion has been highlighted by our service users as an issue that ELFT needs to prioritise. Earlier this year, the People Participation Digital Community (PPDC) were awarded funding through the Innovation Fund. The funding has allowed us to work with a Google supplier to manage 200 patient devices. These are solely for our service users, to enable them to follow a health and wellness plan with the use of websites and apps as requested by their ELFT care team. The funding has also kick-started a broader programme of digital inclusion activities which includes enhancing people’s digital confidence and access to training programmes and a digital life coach via their local Recovery College.
What is the People Participation Digital Community?
We’re building a digital community of service users and staff to form a partnership in our digital plans. Why? Because we believe digital empowerment leads to patient empowerment and improved health outcomes.
We meet every other month to collaborate on patient-facing digital projects. We’ve had speakers ranging from Steve Gladwin, Director of Communications, who discussed the ELFT new website, Shona Richards and the EBO team to evaluate the progress of an Artificial Intelligence Virtual Agent pilot, and Ian Roylance from IAPT (Talking Therapies) services to brainstorm ideas for an online-only talking therapies service.
What’s more, we’ve set up service based Digital Health Forums, like the Specialist Psychotherapy (SPS) Digital Health Forum, to discuss their experiences of using ‘Patient Knows Best’, a website designed to help service users access their medical records and manage their own care. This way, service user voices are heard and provide valuable input to the continuous improvement of community mental health services. One of the participants said, “It is always abundantly clear how carefully the team listen to our points of view and any suggestions that are put forward to them.” So we hope this approach is working.
What’s Next? Digital Life Coaches
Offering digital health services is a new kind of conversation. It takes up valuable consultation and care time, and Clinicians aren’t trained to teach digital skills. We have heard from our service users that people learn better from their peers. That’s why one of our main priorities for the next six months is creating a Digital Life Coach training programme through our Recovery Colleges. We’ve already launched our first ‘Digital Train the Trainer’ course, and gained our first batch of Digital Life Coaches. The aim is to develop a bank of coaches, ready to train others in fundamental digital skills such as using Word, sending emails, online banking as well as how to use the specific digital health tools that ELFT offer.
Our Recovery Colleges will be digital hubs in the future, where people can find support in using digital tools and skills, and improve their confidence.
Getting Involved
Digital services are now being offered by NICE and being prescribed ahead of medication, so as care workers, we need to adapt to provide these services. Because those who use our services will become accustomed to receiving digital care services.
First step - sign up to receive our quarterly newsletter. Then, check out our webpage to find out when we will be hosting our next PPDC meetings, Digital Health Forums and Digital Life Coach training sessions. You’ll also find all things digital here: top tips, skills and activities.
With plenty more work to do to bridge the digital divide, keep your eyes peeled for updates…
Want to collaborate with the PPDC? Get in touch with saleem.haider@nhs.net.