The Digital Divide: Amplifying health inequalities for people with severe mental ill health in the time of COVID-19., BJPsych

During COVID-19, health provision and information resources have been increasingly provided via digital means (e.g. websites, apps) and this will become a standard practice beyond the pandemic. People with severe mental illness face profound health inequalities (e.g. a 25-years mortality gap). Digital exclusion puts this population at risk of heightened or compounded inequalities. This has been referred to as the " Digital Divide " . For any new digital means introduced in clinical practice as an augment of health care service provision, issues of accessibility, acceptability, and usability should be addressed by researchers and developers early in the designing phase, and prior to full implementation, to prevent digital exclusion.
Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news