Digital technology and health survey V0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Survey of Digital Technology and Health in Wales 2021
IRAS ID
305774
Contact name
Karen Hodgson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health Wales
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
COVID-19 has brought into sharp focus the vital role access to the internet and digital technology plays in enabling the public to live their everyday lives during the pandemic. This includes the use of these technologies to support health services, with rapid roll out of virtual health consultations and applications to support the COVID-19 response (e.g. the NHS test and trace app). Alongside this there has been increasing focus on the role of the internet and digital technologies in allowing people to support their own health and wellbeing by searching for health information, tracking healthy behaviours and self-managing long-term conditions. But COVID-19 has also highlighted the impacts of digital exclusion, creating a barrier to resources, in many cases for those who most need support.
In 2018, Public Health Wales carried out a national survey to understand patterns of engagement with digital technology and how this related to health among the Welsh population, highlighting that those in poor health were at higher risk of digital exclusion. These findings helped to inform guidance and Welsh policy on digital inclusion. In this work, we aim to update this evidence, addressing the shifting landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic, and building greater insight into the enablers and barriers for people using these digital technologies.
The research will involve a national telephone survey to gather insights on the use of digital technologies to support health across Wales. The survey will be administered to a nationally representative sample of at least 2,000 Welsh residents over 16 years of age. For those survey participants who give consent, this survey data will then be anonymously linked to health data, which is held within the Welsh SAIL (Secure Anonymized Information Linkage) Databank, for additional analysis to understand the relationship between the use of digital technologies and health outcomes.
REC name
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REC reference
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