Digital technology is transforming our lives and how we consume goods and services as well as information about our health. Digital Inclusion for Health (DIH) has been an innovative pilot project giving ten small voluntary health organisations a new, fit for purpose website.
The project was a response to the difficulty Voluntary Health Scotland’s member organisations experience in funding and maintaining a functioning website, with the consequent impact on their visibility and ability to engage with potential service users and public sector partners.
the health sector needs to up its digital game but the funders do not see this as a fundable item
Senior Health CEO
The Scottish Government’s objective is to enable Scotland to have the highest rates of participation of any country in the United Kingdom. DIH will increase rates of digital participation amongst people in Scotland by developing new websites which enable members to build their capacity to achieve greater impact on health outcomes, and develop their skills for digital engagement.
The initial research for DIH revealed that the charities were very aware of the limitations of their old website:
- Most were over 5 years old
- The design looked dated
- It was difficult to update
- It held out of date information
- It was not well used
- Not responsive for mobiles/tablets
The charities knew they wanted to use their website to reach their key audience to recruit new members and to promote their services and improve the lives of their target audience but they could not find a way to resource the development.
Over a 15 month period (Oct 2013 – Dec 2014), the project recruited and supported 10 voluntary health organisations to develop and sustain functional websites.
Digital Inclusion for Health was funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Voluntary Health Scotland in partnership with graphics.coop.
