The proportion of people in Wales who used the internet and digital technology to manage their health nearly doubled from 25 per cent in 2019/20 to 46 per cent in 2020/21, according to research published today by Public Health Wales.

Amongst those with access to the internet, younger people, and those with long term medical conditions, were most likely to be frequent users of technology for health. More than half (53 per cent) also want to use the internet more to manage their health in the future – mostly among the 30-54 year age groups.

This nationally representative survey asked people in Wales in the winter of 2021-22 about their access to the internet and use of technology to do the following activities:

• Tracking healthy behaviours – such as step counters, diet trackers or recording health symptoms
• Finding health information – for example about symptoms, health conditions and health services
• Requesting a health appointment or prescription
• Receiving clinical care such as GP appointments
• Covid-19 activities – like symptom tracking, booking a vaccination, or complying with Test, Trace, Protect requirements.

Overall, the proportion of people without access to the internet at home continued to decline, to six percent of the population in Wales in 2020/21. There was no evidence that this was a result of the pandemic, with less than one per cent reflecting they had newly gained access to the internet over this period.   Important digital exclusion remains, with a higher proportion of those living in the most deprived areas less likely to be online (eight per cent compared to two per cent in the least deprived areas).

Further information