The Alliance

We fund the Digital Citizen Panel programme, implemented by the Alliance. It is committed to ensuring that the voices, expertise, and rights of people with lived experience drive policy and practice, and sit at the heart of design, delivery and improvement of support and services. It aims to shape and inform the delivery of digital programmes and approaches across health, social care and housing across Scotland by facilitating the formation of a dedicated citizen panel for discussing digital health and care matters. The Panel supports the work of the Digital Citizen Delivery Board, with its aim of empowering citizens to better manage their health and wellbeing, support independent living and gain access to services through digital means.

Since its launch in January 2021, the programme has recruited 79 individuals as Panel members. Its membership is supported by a further 19 stakeholders from integration authorities across Scotland. The Panel has delivered 10 events with a total attendance count of 250. These were delivered in partnership with stakeholders from across health, care, housing and Scottish Government.

We have recently agreed to provide a further 18 months funding to the Alliance for discovery and enabler grants aimed at engaging seldom heard and minority communities in conversation around digital health and care and surfacing the barriers to adoption that they face and the support that they need to remove these barriers. The Enabler grants will build on this newfound knowledge and support projects to tackle these barriers, with the aim of supporting the digital inclusion and adoption of digital health and care solutions amongst the targeted populations.