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In Partnership with the NHS in Black Country and West Birmingham

Find out how Healthwave helped citizens in the Black Country access NHS tools and services

Challenge

The intent behind the NHS App is to be a single front door to the NHS, offering an easy access point to advice and services.

Only 29% people in Black Country and West Birmingham had registered for the NHS App.

Solution

We engaged with the community to understand the best ways to increase App uptake.

We involved over 140,000 people and 35 community groups to gather insights about how they were using the NHS App. Complemented by a digital marketing campaign, national PR and the provision of toolkits for local teams, we reached over 30,000 people in the first month to promote the NHS digital service. During the project NHS App registrations and usage of core functionality increased.

  • The HealthwaveHub was developed to consolidate a range of resources around access to kit, connectivity and skills, fundamental ingredients to digital uptake.

  • Designed in a way that resources can be shared by people working in health and social care and ‘digital carers’ with those not necessarily familiar with online tools.

  • We used links to surveys to gather ongoing feedback to help iterate the resources to ensure they remained relevant.

  • People could also access a community supporting one another with tips and advice around supporting others to do the basics online as well as online events sharing experts views and Q&A.

“We wanted to make sure that everyone in our region had access to resources for improving their health—that's why we worked with Healthwave to promote the NHS App.

We knew that the best way to get people on board was to hear directly from them about what they needed. Working with Healthwave we asked thousands of people, as well as community groups, about how they were using the NHS App and what they needed from us.

We learned a lot from this process! Some of our findings included the need to consolidate a range of resources around access to kit, connectivity and skills—three fundamental ingredients for digital uptake. We've also been using Healthwave's feedback mechanisms as part of our ongoing programme”.
Stephen Cook, Digital Strategic Programme Manager, Black Country Integrated Care Board