Ulster University presented SHAPES research at the NI Science Festival event “A Digital Health Future”, which took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on the 22nd of February 2023. The presentation described some early results from an online survey which seeks opinions regarding user acceptance, digital inclusion, and the societal impact of digital health technologies, including smartphone health apps, chatbots, robots, and smart home care monitoring tools.

Early feedback from 79 respondents indicates positive opinion of digital health technologies as over 90% of respondents agreed that digital health could support heathy ageing. Moreover, for each of the technologies described over 60% of respondents agreed that the technology could help alleviate the financial and human cost of providing healthcare. However, the responses also suggest that potential users may require some training to be able to use the technologies.

The survey is ongoing and is available at: https://ulster.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/user-acceptance-digital-health-technology