The Digital Health and Wellbeing Needs, or otherwise, of a Deprived Scottish Community

Healthcare is becoming increasingly digitised. Access and usage of digital health technologies however is unequal in deprived communities. Despite this disparity, research remains silent on digital health and health inequalities. The present study investigates the health and well-being needs of a deprived community and how digital health technologies could be implemented to meet those needs. An interpretative, qualitative approach was adopted. 18 residents from the deprived community of Raploch, Stirling were recruited. Participants were split into two age cohorts 26–49 (N=4) and 50+ years of age (N=14). Three focus group discussions and a semi-structured interview were used to explore the digital health needs of the residents using open-ended questions. The findings revealed that there are multitude of accessibility relations that influenced the everyday experience of the residents. The complex assemblage of relations must be understood and addressed if digital health interventions are to be successfully implemented into a deprived community.