The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) will host a webinar from 12-1pm on Tuesday 28 July exploring the NHS Digital Exclusion Risk Atlas (DERA), an online tool designed to help organisations better understand patterns of digital exclusion across England and use those insights to support more inclusive health and care services.
Developed for the health and care system, DERA brings together data on connectivity, affordability, access to devices, digital skills and wider demographic factors to identify communities that may be at greater risk of digital exclusion. By combining these indicators in a single, interactive tool, it provides a clearer understanding of where barriers to digital access may exist and where targeted action could have the greatest impact.
Digital inclusion is increasingly important as more health and care services offer online routes to information, support and access. When people lack the connectivity, devices, skills or confidence needed to engage digitally, they can face additional barriers to managing their health and accessing care. Understanding and addressing these barriers is therefore an important part of reducing health inequalities and ensuring services remain accessible to everyone.
The webinar will feature Karol Leszek Kuczera, Senior Healthcare Policy Manager at NHS England, and Will Jones, Principal GIS Analyst at the NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit, who will demonstrate the Atlas, explain how it was developed and showcase how it can be used alongside local evidence, community insight and lived experience to inform planning, prioritisation and service design.
“Digital exclusion is not evenly distributed, and understanding where those risks are greatest is an important step towards designing services that work for everyone,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance. “This webinar is an opportunity to hear directly from the team behind the Digital Exclusion Risk Atlas, explore how it can support decision-making across health and care, and consider how data can be combined with local knowledge to build a more complete picture of digital exclusion.”
The webinar is open to anyone working across health and care, local government or the third sector, as well as those with a wider interest in digital inclusion, population health and reducing health inequalities.