Communicating COVID clearly
It has never been more important for local authorities and their public health teams to communicate COVID effectively to help people navigate this "new normal".
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The mission.
Having access to the internet and being online is essential in today’s world where important public services are increasingly being delivered online. However, around 10% of people in Wales are estimated to not be online and are at risk of not being able to access the support they need. Wales Co-op, on behalf of Digital Communities Wales, wanted to engage with people from ethnic minority communities to understand more about the barriers they face and how they can be supported to have access to digital technology and be online.
The research.
Using the COM-B model of behaviour to frame the research, we engaged members of ethnic minority communities in Wales with a survey and interviews. We sought to explore the extent to which they have access to the internet and feel they can use this confidently, and what was preventing them from doing so. We also engaged with organisations working with these communities to capture an understanding of how they are currently supporting the digital inclusion agenda, and what more they felt they could do to support people to be online and use the internet confidently.
What we did.
Informed by the behavioural insights, we recommended that Digital Communities Wales undertake a six-month pilot with up to 10 organisations aiming to increase their digital skills and literacy. This pilot would ultimately provide these organisations with the skills they needed to support their audiences to be able to get online and use the internet confidently. We developed a number of resources to support communications and recruitment to this pilot, such as social posts and website content.
The impact.
Digital Communities Wales have now concluded their pilot programme, named Digitally Connected Communities. The Behavioural Insights team are currently hard at work conducting an evaluation of this important pilot, to understand its impact and how it can be replicated into the future. Watch this space for more detail!
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behavioural insights
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recommendations for change
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pilot programme
