The Smartline project investigated how digital
technology can support connected communities. The project asked:

• What are people’s attitudes towards
  digital technology, and what barriers
  prevent people from using it?
• How does people’s use of digital technology
  relate to their health and wellbeing?
• How can designers and service providers
  ensure that customers do not lose out as
  digital innovation races ahead?

Having sensors installed inside the home can help people to understand their home environment so they can make positive choices to improve their health and wellbeing. For example, without a sensor, homes that aren’t actively managed for temperature and humidity can develop problems such as damp and mould growth.

This affects peoples physical health, wellbeing and comfort, as well as creating maintenance and building issues.

Understanding how people access, understand and use the home data that is collected using sensors is also important to ensure as many people as possible can use the information to benefit their lives.

Smartline had access to the tablet usage data; and through this, identified the highest and the lowest tablet users.

The team carried out interviews with the ten highest and ten lowest users and asked if anyone had changed their behaviour since the sensors had been installed in 2018.

As other research with electricity smart meters has shown, sensor data doesn’t necessarily lead to changes in behaviour. Users can quickly become bored with monitoring their smart data.

Smartline’s work on digital inclusion has drawn on a
range of methods and data sources. At the beginning
of the project, participating households completed a
survey. Through this researchers discovered that 21%
of participants did not have an internet connection at
home, and 6% did not own a smartphone.

Through surveys and focus groups, and evaluation of specific
initiatives developed in response to the covid-19
pandemic, Smartline researchers have added to our
understanding of how people living in social housing
perceive digital technology.

 Digital exclusion is a key reason people may not have used the tablets provided to them in the Smartline project.

What could be the impacts?

It’s clear that many individuals won’t, don’t or can’t use the sensor data and the tablet. However, associations like Coastline Housing are in a unique position to be able to provide support by using our research to inform decisions.

Home sensor technology provides significant value for the householder, the housing association, and the landlord. With the necessary consents and permissions from householders in place, by monitoring the sensor data, the housing association can identify households and properties at risk so they can intervene to provide support. For example, spotting unusual readings could indicate problems with people’s heating systems, or help to spot potential for high mould growth.

A key piece of research was the Getting Online, Staying Connected study. Research in this project indicated four main reasons why some people didn’t take part in the study: the individual is already competent or has a digitally competent friend or relative to help; people face health-related barriers; and some people don’t see the need for using technology or the internet.

The health-related barrier is significant. People who are either struggling with their own mental or physical health, or caring for others, are less likely to be connected. Digital engagement simply is not a priority when daily life is so demanding. Health inequality leads to digital inequality, and the two don’t help each other.

There are also more universal barriers to digital inclusion: fear of new technology and a lack of confidence also featured in people’s responses.

Access the related research paper:

The feasibility and acceptability of digital technology for health and wellbeing in social housing residents in Cornwall: A qualitative scoping study

The research is also summarised in this poster.

A further study which responded to the need for digital engagement and skills during the Covid pandemic and examined the impact on social housing residents, explored the obstacles and reasons why unserved communities tend to be digitally excluded.

This took the form of a Mixed Methods Feasibility and Acceptability Evaluation and found that existing inequalities for social housing residents means that post-covid they face ongoing  digital exclusion issues.