Health Inequalities and Disparities in the UK: How We Can Battle Them with Digital Transformation
Research has shown repeatedly that the UK health sector has an inequality issue. Ethnic groups across the United Kingdom struggle to access healthcare, deal with adverse experiences with the healthcare system, and face inequitable health outcomes compared to others. So, what can we do to turn things around?
Access to Information
One study found that only 52% of black and Asian groups within the UK reported clearly understanding minimizing the risk of contracting or spreading covid-19 during the pandemic compared to 71% of white people. The Public Health England’s review even acknowledged the difficulty in interpreting and understanding the official notices and guidance provided about covid-19. Access to easy-to-understand health information is crucial to the health of our communities. Yet, our health notices and information are inaccessible to so many communities due to their complexity in delivery.
Life Expectancy
Statistics have shown significant differences in specific ethnic groups within the UK. In the 2011 to 2014 period, males and females of white or mixed ethnic groups were found to have a lower life expectancy at birth than all other ethnic groups. White ethnic groups of males and females had the highest mortality rates from cancer, and Indian, Bangladeshi, and Mixed males, along with Pakistani, Indian, and Mixed females, had the highest mortality rates for circulatory diseases.
Linguistic and Cultural Competence
Many ethnic groups face issues finding healthcare providers who can communicate effectively with them. Communication is a crucial factor in receiving the healthcare one needs, so struggling to find a doctor who can understand and communicate with the patient can be the difference between receiving the care the patient needs or not.
While language barriers can create great difficulty in a doctor-patient relationship, so can competency in the patient’s culture. Different cultures hold different health and healing belief systems; view diseases and illnesses differently, and hold different values when it comes to healthcare. Having access to a competent doctor in one’s culture should be a given, but it is difficult to come by for some.
How Can Digital Transformation Help?
Digital transformation will provide greater access to information and healthcare for patients all over the UK. Digital technologies, such as smart devices, are believed to be a solution that can provide patients of all different ethnicities with preventative healthcare to keep them as healthy as possible. In general, this more accessible healthcare will benefit every UK citizen greatly.
Regarding inequalities that can be helped through the use of digital transformation, there are a vast number of benefits for people facing inequalities in the health sector. For one, access to information regarding healthcare will become more accessible than ever. Access to the internet will allow the entire UK population to have a stronger voice in the healthcare they are seeking. Digital transformation can make healthcare providers from all over more accessible. Those looking for doctors who are competent in their language or culture will be able to find it, as tele-health can allow doctors from different areas to work with patients from all over.
These are only a few of the multitude of benefits digital transformation can provide citizens of the UK. There are so many more. As we learned about these great benefits of digital transformation, we decided to create CheckUp Health- a system designed to grant patients of all different backgrounds the opportunity to be empowered in their health and wellness.
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4774476/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1467-9566.12980
https://www.bmj.com/content/372/bmj.n605
https://pmj.bmj.com/content/81/953/141