2. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Contents
Introduction
- Research objectives
- Sample and methodology
- Summary
Slides 3-8
Internet Usage
- Prevalence & frequency
Slides 9-11
Online Health Information & Apps
- Usage and interest in using the internet for
health & social care info
- Perceptions of reliability and usefulness of
the internet for health & social care info
- Devices used to lookup health & social care
info
- Use oft health apps
Slides 12-17
Awareness & Usage of NHSC
- Benchmarking against previous survey
waves
- Comparisons with other websites
Slides 18-21
Site Users
- Profile of personal and professional users
Slides 22-26
Evidence of behaviour change
- Impact on confidence
- Use of site to reduce health risk
Slides 27-29
Satisfaction, Future Usage & Advocacy
- Benchmarking against previous survey wave
Slides 30-31
Conclusions and Recommendations
Slides 32-33
4. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Research Objectives
Benchmark the use of the internet, particularly for health information
- Understand frequency of internet usage among the general population
- Understand how adults currently perceive and use online health and
social care information
- Track how the pattern of internet usage for health and social care info
is changing, including the devices used, and the uptake of health apps
Understand the profile and needs of current users
- Understand the profile of site users compared with the general
population
- Explore how many different adults users have looked up health and
social care information for on NHS Choices
- Understand how the site is meeting the needs of current users and how
satisfied they are
- Identify users’ attitudes and behaviours with regard to their health
Track awareness and usage of the NHS Choices website
- Track the awareness and usage of NHS Choices compared with
previous waves of the survey
5. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Sample and Methodology
Type of survey Omnibus survey conducted by TNS
Methodology CAPI (computer assisted personal interviewing)
Conducted in respondents’ homes
Fieldwork dates 17th – 21st January 2014
Sample Total sample n=1,751
Results weighted to provide total population figures
Bases indicate the unweigthed (actual) number of survey responses and the equivalent nationally
representative figure (weighted base)
For example, the unweigthed base for NHS Choices users is 302 survey respondents, which is
equivalent 7,412,000 users nationally in England
Throughout this report, all weighted bases excluded the final three digits (so 7,412,000 users is
displayed as n=7,412)
Sample
distribution
Nationally representative sample of the general public in England (only adults aged 16+ included in
the sample)
Previous research
conducted
Previous waves of the public research omnibus survey have been conducted as follows:
Wave 1: September 2007 (Ipsos MORI survey)
Wave 2: December/January 2008 (Ipsos MORI survey)
Wave 3: October 2009 (TNS survey)
Wave 4: June 2010 (TNS survey)
Wave 5: March 2011 (TNS survey)
Wave 6: December 2011 (TNS survey)
Wave 7: August 2012 (TNS survey)
Wave 8: January 2013 (TNS survey)
Sample and Methodology
6. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
- Over half (55%) of the population have gone online to look up health or social
care information – approximately 22.1 million adults
- The majority (65%) lookup health and social care information using a laptop, but
tablet usage has increased significantly in the last year to 32% (+16% points)
- 58% of adults trust health and social care information on NHS websites
- Symptom checking is the most common type of information sought –
approximately13.8 million adults (34%) look this up online
- 36% regularly use health or fitness apps – approximately 14.5 million adults
- The most popular apps are those that provide adults with general health and
social care information, symptom checkers and help with fitness/strength
- Internet usage in the past 3 months has increased from 83% in January 2013 to
85% in January 2014, and 84% of those adults use it on a daily basis
Summary #1
Internet usage
Awareness and usage of the NHS Choices website
- Spontaneous awareness of NHS Choices has increased from 5% in January
2013 to 9%, and prompted awareness (name and screenshots shown) has
increased by +4% points to 33%
- 18% claim to have used NHS Choices when prompted (+1% point)
Online health information and apps
7. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
- The proportion of those using NHS Choices only for personal reasons has
increased from 64% to 72% since January 2013
- 23% of NHS Choices users are professional users (including 14% that also use it
for personal reasons), a decrease of 9% points since January 2013
- Including those professional users that also use NHS Choices for personal
reasons, the total percentage of personal users is currently 86% (a 4% point
increase since January 2013)
- Compared to the general public and internet users overall, NHS Choices users are
more likely to be women, aged 25-44 and of social grade C1
- 43% of NHS Choices users have children
- 96% of NHS Choices users have looked-up information on behalf of others, with
each user sourcing information for an average of 4 other people in addition to
themselves
Summary #2
The profile and needs of current users
8. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
- Overall satisfaction has decreased by 5% points since January 2013 to 83%
- Likelihood to recommend has also decreased by 5% points since the last survey
wave (82%)
- However, 95% are likely to use NHS Choices again
Behaviour and attitude change
- Over half (52%) of personal users have checked their symptoms using NHS
Choices, while over one in three (36%) have looked-up health information
- Over one in three (35%) personal site users have used the health information from
NHS Choices to undertake a positive health, lifestyle or safety action (e.g. eat
more healthily, stop smoking, start running, etc)
- There has been a 2% point increase since January 2013 in the proportion that say
NHS Choices improves their confidence when dealing with health professionals
(55%)
Summary #3
Satisfaction, advocacy and likelihood of repeat visits
10. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
14% 13%
29% 27%
45% 43%
3% 3%
28% 28%
12% 12%
3% 2%
5%
4%
6%
3%
1% 1%
4% 3%
3% 1%
83% 85%
66% 68%
96% 96%
68% 68%
85% 87%
49%
53%
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Jan
2013
Jan
2014
Yes,
within
the last 3
months
Yes, but
longer
than 3
months
ago
Never
used
+2% shift
+4% shift
+2% shift
DE Socio-economic groupTotal Parents Long Term Condition Carer
+2% shift
Q. How recently have you used the internet? Base: Jan 2013 all respondents n=1,709 un-weighted base, n=40,773 weighted base
Base: Jan 2014 all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base
85% have used the internet in the last 3 months, and frequency
of internet use is stable or increasing across all sub-groups
65+ years
- The proportion of DE’s who have accessed the internet in the previous 3 months has increased 2% points
- 2% more people over the age of 65 years are now using the internet
- Most parents have accessed the internet in the previous 3 months (96%)
- Two thirds (68%) of those with a LTC have accessed the internet in the past 3 months – in-line with the previous survey wave
- 87% of carers have accessed the internet in the past 3 months, a 5% point rise since Jan 2013
n=1,751n=1,709 n=618n=616 n=453n=401 n=552n=507 n=397n=448 n=372n=314
11. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Base all who have used the internet n=1,447 un-weighted base, n=34,958 weighted base
The majority of internet users (84%) go online daily, particularly
younger adults, parents and those of higher social grades
Q. How frequently do you use the internet?
- The proportion of the general public who use the internet daily (84%) has increased +3% points
- Men are more likely than women to use the internet daily (86% v’s 82%)
- The following groups are significantly more likely to use the internet on a daily basis than the general population
- Parents (89%), 16-44 year olds (95%), ABC1’s (89%)
13. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Over half (55%) report that they have used the internet to
look up health and social care information
Base all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400
There are some significant differences by sub-group:
- Women (59%) are more likely than men (50%) to have used the internet to look up health and social care
information
- Those with a long term conditions are less likely to use the internet to look up health and social care information
(48%) than those who do not have a condition (57%)
- Parents are more likely than non-parents to use the internet to look up health and social care information (65% vs
50%)
Q. Have your ever used the internet to look up health or social care information? (note: question asked only
about health information in previous waves)
14. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
1%
There has been significant increases in the use of mobile and
tablet devices to lookup health or social care information
Q. Which of the following devices have you ever looked up health or social care information on in
the last 12 months? (note: question asked only about health information in previous waves)
Base: Jan 2013 all who have used the internet to look up health information n=967 un-weighted base, n=24,664 weighted base
Base: Jan 2014 all who have used the internet to look up health information n=888 un-weighted base, n=22,142 weighted base
36%
65%
32%
Other portable device
(e.g. PSP, iPod Touch) 3%
31%
+/-% change since Jan 13
-5%
+5%
+5%
+16%
-2%
15. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Over half find online health & social care info useful, while trust
in NHS Choices info is higher compared to other online sources
I trust the reliability of
health and social care
information on an NHS
website
I trust the reliability of
health and social
information on the
internet in general
Q. How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements about using the internet to
look up health and social care information? (note: questions asked only about health information in previous waves)
I find health and social
care information on the
internet useful
45%
58%
54%
Base: Jan 2013 all respondents n=1,709 un-weighted base, n=40,773 weighted base
Base: Jan 2014 all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base
16. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Symptom checking and searching for specific medical
information are most the common types of information sought
Q. For which of these reasons have you gone online to look up health or social care information in
the last 12 months? (note: question asked only about health information in previous waves)
Base all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base
NHSC Customer Sat.
Survey Dec 2013 (top 3)
%
For medical information 41%
To check symptoms 27%
For information about
health services
23%
Base: all respondents n=2,612 un-
weighted base
17. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Over a third (36%) regularly use health and fitness apps, with
apps for conditions, treatment and healthy living the most popular
- 36% regularly use health or fitness
apps – that’s 14.5 million adults across
England
- Women are more likely than men to
regularly use health or fitness apps
(38% vs 34% respectively)
Q. Do you regularly use health or fitness apps to help or assist with any of the following...?
Base: all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,773 weighted base
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
19. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
- 48% of respondents say they are aware on an ‘NHS’ website (NHS Choices, NHS Direct, other NHS/public site)
- There remains some confusion about NHS sites, with 13% not sure specifically which NHS/public site they were
aware of – some of these could have been referring to NHS Choices
Awareness of NHS Choices has rise +4% points to 9%, while a
further 13% recall an NHS public/site but are not sure which
Q. Which health and social care information websites, if any, have you heard of? Spontaneous
awareness. (note: question asked only about health information in previous waves)
Base all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base; internet users n=1,447
un-weighted base, n=34,958 weighted base *Asked previously as ‘Google’
20. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
51% (+20)
42% (-1)
24% (+10)
19% (+8)
10% (=)
10% (=)
9% (+4)
7% (+3)
6% (-1)
5% (+1)
4% (-1)
4% (+2)
3% (+3)
Internet users only
(+/-/= change since Jan 2013)
Q. Which of these health and social care information websites have you used
in the last 12 months? (note: question asked only about health information in previous waves)
Base all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base; internet users n=1,447
un-weighted base, n=34,958 weighted base
Claimed usage of NHS Choices remains consistent – and with
exception of NHS Direct it is the most used health website
- Reported usage of NHS Choices remains consistent – rising 1% point to 9% among (10% among internet users)
- 51% of respondents say they had used any NHS website (a 2% point increase since the last wave)
- Spontaneous awareness of NHS Choices is in-line with unprompted claimed usage (both 9% respectively)
*Asked previously as ‘Google’
21. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
There is an upward trend in spontaneous awareness,
prompted awareness and claimed usage of NHS Choices
INTERNET USERS (for comparison to graph):
- Spontaneous awareness of NHSC among internet users is 10%, up from 6% in Jan 13
- Claimed usage of NHSC among internet users (shown screenshots) is 21%, a 1% point increase since Jan 13
- Awareness of NHSC amongst internet users (who see the screenshots) is 38%, a 4% point increase since Jan 13
Awareness and usage of NHS Choices, NHS websites (any) (note: question asked
only about health information in previous waves)
65%
63%
55%
51%
38%
21%
10%
Internet users only
Overall base all respondents n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base;
internet users n=1,447 un-weighted base, n=34,958 weighted base *Asked previously as ‘Google’
23. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
72% of NHS Choices users are personal users, while a
significant minority (23%) use the site in a professional capacity
- There has been an 8% point increase in the proportion of personal site users since Jan 2013
- Combined with those professionals who also use the site for personal reasons, the overall proportion personal
users is 86% (a 4% point increase since Jan 13)
- There is 5% point decline of professional only users (9%), and the total number of health professionals using NHS
Choices is now 23% (a 9% point decline since Aug 2012)
For professional use (23%)
For myself, a
member of my
family or for a
friend (72%)
For personal and professional reasons (14%)
- Health professional and personal reasons (9%)
- For both non-health professional and personal
reasons (5%)
For only professional reasons (9%)
- Health professional (7%)
- Other professional looking for someone
else as part of my job( 2%)
- Other professional use (1%)
Positive or negative change in the proportion of people using the site since Jan 2013
Q. Which one of the following best describes the reason why you generally visit NHS Choices?
Base all NHSC users n=302, un-weighted base, n=7,412 weighted base
+8%
+4%
-9%
Please note the professionals are based on small
baseline of people when looking at the survey figures
(i.e. the un-weighted figure is approx. 76 people)
For personal use only (72%)
Total personal use including professionals
(86%)
+8%
+4%
24. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
NHS Choice usersInternet users
Working status
Compared to the public and internet users overall, NHS Choices
users are more likely to be women, aged 25-34, C1s and have children
Base all respondents Jan 2014 n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base; all who have used the internet n=1,447 un-weighted base,
n=34,958 weighted base; used NHSC site n=385 un-weighted base, n=8,820 weighted base
Gender Age
Socio-economic group Children
General Public
25. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
NHS Choices users are also more likely to be carers when
compared to the general public and internet users more widely
Government office region
Long term condition (LTC) Carer
NHS Choice usersInternet usersGeneral Public
Base all respondents Jan 2014 n=1,751 un-weighted base, n=40,400 weighted base; all who have used the internet n=1,447 un-weighted base,
n=34,958 weighted base; used NHSC site n=385 un-weighted base, n=8,820 weighted base
26. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
The vast majority (96%) will use NHS Choices to look up
health or social care information for others
One
Person
32%
None
4%
2-5
people
53%
6-10
people
5%
11-25
people
1%
Q. How many different people have you looked up health or social care information for on the NHS
Choices website?
Base all who have used the NHS Choices website n=302 un-weighted base, n=7,412 weighted base
- On average, an NHSC site user looks up information for 4 people
- Compared to Jan 2013, fewer adults are looking up information for just one other person (-11% points), while there
has been a +14% point increase in the proportion who look up health/social care information for 2-5 people
- In total, approximately 7.1 million users source information through the site for others
Don’t
know
1%
25+
people
5%
28. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
19%
21%
34%
34%
30%
32%
11%
8%
7%
6%
2013
2014
Strongly agree Slightly agree Neither agree nor disagree
Slightly disagree Strongly disagree
Q. In the last 12 months, using the NHS Choices website has helped me be more confident when
seeing a doctor or other health professional…
Base Jan 2013: all who have used the NHS Choices website for personal use n=233, un-weighted base, n=5,727 weighted base
Base Jan 2014: all who have used the NHS Choices website for personal use n=264, un-weighted base, n=6,393 weighted base
Over half of NHS Choices users (55%) say the website has
made them more confident when dealing with health professionals
53%
55%
Positive or negative change in the proportion of people using the site since Jan 2013
+2%
29. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
87% take action based on the information they access on
NHS Choices, with 35% undertaking a health, lifestyle or safety activity
- 87% of personal site users have used information from NHS Choices to help with their health / lifestyle needs
- Over one in three (35%) personal site users have used the health information from NHS Choices to undertake a
positive health, lifestyle or safety action (e.g. eat more healthily, stop smoking, start running, etc)
Q. In the last 12 months have you ever used the information from NHS Choices to do any of the
following?
Base all who have used the NHS Choices website for personal use n=264 un-weighted base, n=6,393 weighted base
*
31. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Base Jan 2013: all who have used the NHS Choices website n=282 un-weighted base, n=6,982 weighted base
Base Jan 2014: all who have used the NHS Choices website n=302 un-weighted base, n=7,412 weighted base
There has been a 5% point decrease in user satisfaction (83%)
& likelihood to recommend (82%), but 95% are likely to use the site again
Q. Overall, how satisfied were you
with the NHS Choices website?
Q. How likely would you be to
recommend the NHS Choices
website?
Q. How likely would you be to use
the NHS Choices website again?
- Across these questions on satisfaction, future usage and recommendation, it is good to see only a tiny proportion (less than
1% of users) selecting the extreme negative end of the scale – very dissatisfied with the site, definitely not recommend it or
use it again. This shows the site is meeting the needs of the vast majority of users.
0.3%
dissatisfaction -
1.7% since
March 201183%
Satisfaction
(-5% since
Jan 2013)
1% Unlikely
future usage
(-1% since
Aug 2012)
No change in
dissatisfaction
(1%)
95% Likely
future usage
(+1% since
Jan 2013)
No change in
unlikely future
usage (1%)
82% Likely to
recommend
(-5% since
Jan 2013)
6% Unlikely to
recommend
(+3% since
Jan 2013)
32. Public InformationCustomer Insight Public Information
Questions and comments to:
thechoicesteam@nhschoices.nhs.uk please
quote “Slideshare” in subject line
