Inclusive digital healthcare: what you need to know
The NHS Confederation has published a summary and analysis of recent NHS policy on inclusive digital healthcare.
It highlights several key actions including:
- Increasing access to devices and connectivity and highlighting tools like the Digital Exclusion Risk Index
- Encouraging compliance with accessibility standards and ensuring public information is accessible
- Addressing the needs of individuals with diverse physical, communicative or cognitive impairments
- Trust-building through trusted messengers, and prioritising lower-risk, transactional services like booking appointments and seeing test results
Read the summary via the NHS Confederation website here.
Study: Assessing the potential of GPT-4 to perpetuate racial and gender biases
A study has found GPT-4 does not appropriately model the demographic diversity of medical conditions.
Instead, it consistently produces clinical vignettes that stereotype demographic presentations.
Assessment and plans created by the model showed significant association between demographic attributes and recommendations for more expensive procedures, as well as differences in patient perception.
Researchers argue their findings highlight the urgent need for comprehensive and transparent bias assessments of large language models like GPT-4 before they are integrated into clinical care.
Read the study in full via The Lancet here.
Report highlights stark divide in health and wealth
A report by the cross-party IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity says a stark divide in health and wealth is leaving many areas of the UK sicker and poorer than their neighbours.
It says the UK now has among the largest health inequalities of any advanced economy.
One in 4 people in England and Wales who are economically inactive live in the unhealthiest 50 local authorities.
People living in the most deprived local authorities in England are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to experience economic inactivity.
They are twice as likely to be in poor health than those in the least deprived authorities.
Read the full report via the IPPR website here.
Prevention in health and social care: healthy places
An inquiry into prevention in health and social care has published a report on healthy places.
It says the places where people live have a substantial impact on their likelihood of developing preventable health conditions.
The report calls for a series of immediate actions including updating and expanding the Decent Homes Standard.
It also calls for greater clarity on who is responsible for healthy development following the dissolution of Public Health England.
Read the report in full via UK Parliament here.
NHS App campaign assets
The Department of Health and Social Care has published materials to help promote the NHS App.
The resources, which include a toolkit, social media assets and email signatures, are part of a wider campaign to increase awareness of the app.
Download all resources from the DHSC website here.
Report highlights risk of burnout
A report by Mental Health UK highlights the risk of burnout – chronic workplace stress which has not been managed.
The Burnout Report says more than 9 in 10 adults experienced high or extreme stress in the past year. Two in 10 workers took time off due to poor mental health caused by pressure or stress.
The report makes a series of recommendations for both employees and employers.
Mental Health UK was founded by four mental health charities including PIF member Rethink Mental Illness.
Read the full report via the Mental Health UK website here.
Watch: Reflections on digital inclusion
In this ALLIANCE Live, digital network officer Gozie reflects on her digital inclusion work.
She discusses the importance of language, how it evolves and how community engagement can drive awareness.
Gozie also tackles the important question of ‘bridging the digital gap’ when it comes to health and wellbeing and reflects on how people crave knowledge, trust, and a starting point.