Tackling inactivity with digital inclusion

The fact that you are reading this blog means you have a good level of digital inclusion. You have access to a device (phone, laptop, tablet), connection to the internet and the skills and confidence to find this post.

Many people face barriers to getting online, experiencing what is known as ‘digital exclusion’.

But in a world where our smartphones can defrost the car from the comfort of our own home, a ring can track all of our health and activity data, and banks are operating solely online, digital connectivity is fundamental to how we now operate.

Not a ‘fixed state’

Digital exclusion is about not having the access, skills and/or confidence to use the internet and benefit fully from digital technology in everyday life.

This is a widespread issue, impacting millions of people across the UK and limiting the extent to which they’re able to participate in our ever-more digital society:

• 6.8 million UK households (24%) report difficulty affording communications services
• 1.5m of the adult population (3%) don’t have a smartphone, tablet or laptop
• 2m young people in the UK (14%) don’t have access to a digital device for learning
• 7.9m adults in the UK (15%) don’t have the eight foundational digital skills
• 3.7m UK households with children (45%) don’t meet the Minimum Digital Living Standard

Interestingly, though, being digitally excluded is not a ‘fixed state’.

People may face one or more digital barriers, to different degrees, at different times and related to other vulnerabilities or life events, plus people may gain or lose access, skills and/or confidence to do things digitally. 

Digital inclusion and physical activity

As a sector we must ensure we not only keep pace with new digital developments and the exciting opportunities these provide, because we also need to ensure that no-one is left behind.

We recently commissioned Good Things Foundation to conduct some research into the topic of digital inclusion in order to better understand how digital exclusion might contribute to inequalities in people getting active.

Good Things Foundation also investigated the role that digital inclusion could play in increasing people’s activity levels and looked into the opportunities for Sport England to support digital inclusion across the sector.

The research confirmed our assumption: while many of us enjoy the convenience and connectivity of a digital world, digital exclusion disproportionately affects the audiences we most want to support to enjoy the benefits of a physically active life.

We really appreciate the great work that Good Things Foundation have done on this and we are pleased to be able to share our key findings as well as the full report.

What did we learn?

There is an extensive report from this initial desktop research, but a few valuable findings include:

• sections of the population who are digitally excluded are very similar to those with the lowest activity levels and those facing health inequalities. This includes older adults, disabled people, people experiencing poverty and people living with long-term health conditions
• digital access, skills and accessibility all shape people’s journeys to being physically active. Growing reliance on digital platforms for accessing leisure and sport services means it is increasingly difficult for those without digital connectivity, devices and/or skills to engage with these services  
• we are investing in places where we need to consider digital inclusion and 84% of new Sport England's Place Expansion Partnerships are in areas where internet access is at its lowest.

Whilst digital exclusion isn’t the most influential factor in shaping people’s physical activity levels, it should still be a key consideration when designing new services to engage underserved audiences.

Otherwise, we could be inadvertently excluding people from getting active if we only use digital solutions to promote, design and provide access to sport and physical activity offers.

What next?

This is just the start of our understanding of digital inclusion and its role in tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity.

In the autumn we will be doing further research to deepen our understanding of the audiences most impacted, as well as partners’ experiences of addressing the challenge of digital exclusion in their work.

We would love to connect with a range of partners to understand how digital inclusion is being factored into their existing work as well as what the sector needs to ensure digital inclusion is considered when supporting people to get active.

So watch this space and please get in touch if you are interested in getting involved!