Scottish government announces funding for mental health digital inclusion

Projects across Scotland have been awarded funding as part of the Scottish government’s Digital Inclusion Programme aimed at helping people to access online support services, initially in mental health and housing services.

The thirteen projects, which bid to be one of the ‘Digital Pioneers’, will develop, test and implement programmes to help people access the services they need online to support their health and wellbeing.

The £600,000 first phase of the programme is being delivered in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. It will benefit more than 1,500 people by building skills and confidence, as well as devices to support access to digital services in mental health and housing.

It is expected that following the programme, which will run for two years, a shared understanding and learning of how best to support digital inclusion in mental health and housing will be created.

Michael Matheson, cabinet secretary for NHS recovery, health and social care, said: ‘Supporting people to feel more digitally confident so they can access the services they need online is absolutely vital and it is one of our long-standing commitments.

‘This programme will see models tested that will help so many people gain the skills they need to improve their own health and know how to access the support that is available to them.’

The Digital Inclusion Programme was launched in March 2023, is led by the Digital Health and Care directorate and is being delivered in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations and Connecting Scotland.

The programme, backed by £2m of funding, focuses on two digital inclusion in mental health (supporting people with a mental health condition) and digital inclusion in housing (supporting customers or tenants in social housing, the private rented sector or owner-occupied housing who are most at risk of digital exclusion).

The recipients of the funding are: Aberdeen Foyer, Blackwood Homes and Care, Simon Community Scotland, Prospect Community Housing, Shettleston Housing Association, Link Living, Queens Cross Housing Association, Carr Gomm, Saheliya, Moray Wellbeing Hub, Scottish Association for Mental Health, Cyrenians, and Just Bee Productions.

Image: Rodion Kutsaiev