Lessons learnt for digital inclusion in underserved communities from implementing a covid virtual ward
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The factors associated with digital exclusion in the covid virtual ward population at a North West London teaching hospital were assessed in this study. Patients discharged from the covid virtual ward were contacted to give their feedback on their experience. Questions were tailored to whether or not the patient used the Huma app during their time on the virtual ward and were subsequently divided into ‘app user’ and ‘non-app user’ cohorts. The non-app user population accounted for 31.5% of the total patients referred to the virtual ward. Four major themes drove digital exclusion in this group: language barriers, access, inadequate information/training, and poor IT skills. In conclusion, incorporating additional languages and improving hospital-setting demonstration and information provision to patients prior to discharge were highlighted as key factors for reducing digital exclusion in the covid virtual ward patients.
Editor(s)
Shah, Rutwik
Date Issued
2022-11-16
Date Acceptance
2022-10-18
Citation
PLOS Digital Health, 2022, 1 (11)
ISSN
2767-3170
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Start Page
e0000146
End Page
e0000146
Journal / Book Title
PLOS Digital Health
Volume
1
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2022 Fox et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36812574
PII: PDIG-D-22-00165
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States
Article Number
e0000146