Partner profile: Leeds Irish Health and Homes

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has been providing services to the Irish and wider community in Leeds for over 29 years. Their services range from outreach support to regular lunch clubs, tea dances, health and wellbeing support, digital inclusion support, bereavement, and mental health support. They have worked in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds for over five years.

With a successful funding bid from the Emigrant Support Programme in 2020 they were able to recruit a Community Digital Inclusion Officer. The demand for digital inclusion support has increased across the Irish communities in Leeds, and Leeds Irish Health and Homes have continued to expand and build upon their digital inclusion offer. With successful funding from Leeds Digital Inclusion Fund they recruited a second digital inclusion role within their team. This has enabled them to expand their reach and capacity to deliver a wide range of digital skills sessions on a weekly and monthly basis at different locations across Leeds.

In response to the increased demand for support, they have recently relocated to a new site in Harehills, giving them greater opportunity to expand their service offer and reach more service users.

“Seeing people’s digital skills increase is a real sense of empowerment and it gives Leeds Irish Health and Homes a real sense of pride. People are no longer afraid to ask questions, they have achieved both self-belief and achievement in their learning. It’s great to see the difference it’s making to their lives.”

Sarah McBride, Services Manager at Leeds Irish Health and Homes

Taking a person-centred approach to digital skills support

The organisation’s Community Digital Inclusion Officer takes a person-centred approach to digital skills support, adapting sessions to members’ needs.

“It has met a real need. Our learners like to be independent and navigate the digital world. One lady used google maps for her journey to London and was proud that her daughter did not have to meet her from the train because she found the connecting one from Kings Cross. After previously finding maps challenging, she recently announced, ‘I find it easy now, I have to make sure the arrow follows the blue dots!’”

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has found approaches to supporting digital skills that work to reduce fear, and build confidence and skills with digital technology:

Finding out what people are interested in and tailoring sessions to hobbies, interests, and personal motivations.
Avoiding jargon, taking the time explaining step by step instructions, making notes, repeating new skills, and learning.
Explaining the difference between Android and Apple devices, like that of cars. Mercedes and Kia are both different types of cars, but both get you ‘from A to B’. Similarly with different types of devices, both give you access to the online world.
Using real life examples when explaining digital instructions, such as comparing settings on a smartphone to an engine of a car, and a password being similar to a key to a house. You have many keys for your house, car, windows, and similarly you need to creating different passwords for different things to stay safe. If you want to make your door more secure you may use a second lock. In digital, two factor authentication is like a second lock.

“Many of our members get digital help from family members, but they end up doing tasks for them as a quick fix. In our sessions people can develop their digital skills and confidence, increasing independence in a safe, supportive environment.”

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Many sessions are focused on getting the most out of using a smartphone, covering content such as adding contacts to the address book, using WhatsApp, adding shop loyalty cards to the Apple wallet, looking at clothing websites and learning how to use filters to limit choice by colour, size, or occasion. Digital inclusion guides and resources are used in the sessions and can be printed so members can take these home afterwards.

“One member supported was a gentleman in his early 90s and he had a number of health needs and mobility issues. We chatted about the cost of living, he was unaware that he could apply for Attendance Allowance and a Blue Badge. My colleague and I supported him in submitting an Attendance Allowance claim and a Blue Badge request. He was incredibly grateful and said the extra money would make a huge difference to his standard of living. He no longer needed to worry about putting on his heating. Even though he no longer drives, the Blue Badge means that when he goes out with his family, they’re able to park near venues so he doesn’t have to walk too far. It’s made such a difference to him”.

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Embedding digital inclusion across the wider programme

Alongside their digital skills sessions, Leeds Irish Health and Homes has embedded digital inclusion across their service offer, introducing digital in an informal way to increase confidence and motivation. They use iPads and VR within their reminiscence sessions, and use iPads to introduce arts and culture apps in their social activities. Using styluses with the iPads enables people to draw on the tablets expressing their creativity in a fun, interactive way.

In response to high demand for support with using digital health apps, Leeds Irish Health and Homes developed digital health drop in sessions, helping people use tools such as Patchs, NHS app and Pharmacy First to order their prescriptions and manage appointments. Using how to guides and step-by-step instructions helps people to understand how to navigate the tools at their own pace, and the guides can be referred to at home.

“We take a holistic approach to supporting people with their digital skills, finding out what motivates and matters most to them. There are so many things people can do online that they don’t always know are available. People have used Google Maps to see where they used to live and places that bring back memories. Many have been able to watch Mass services online when the weather is bad. The internet is great for fact finding. One of our digital members found out that his hometown of Killybegs supplied a carpet to the US White House, and another used a tablet to find out how to peel the outer layer off a lemon pip using YouTube, and he’s grown his own tree!

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Partnership working

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has developed a number of partnerships with other organisations, delivering digital skills support alongside:

“It has been great to work closely with other organisations supporting digital inclusion, bouncing ideas, and sharing information and resources. We’ve chatted lots about our delivery approaches, methods and shared tips, supporting each other with planning sessions and working collaboratively on monitoring and reporting”.

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

The partnership digital skills sessions have had a variety of themes including digital health, booking holidays, online banking, Irish passport applications, and energy saving.

“I found that I can now download the Loop app for my smart meter display!”

“It’s amazing how much I can now save on my bills, I didn’t realise there was so many options to compare.”

“I found out it’s cheaper to use my slow cooker instead of my oven, I need to do this more!”

Feedback from digital skills session attendees.

Working in partnership with Virgin Money, Leeds Irish Health and Homes has delivered digital support sessions themed around online banking, including support with registering online, using banking apps and managing accounts. Many of the attendees were in their 80s and expressed how much more confident they felt in using online banking after the sessions, as they could check their balances and transfer money safely.

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has an iPad lending scheme where they lend tablets to those without a device to let them ‘try before they buy’. The organisation finds out what people are most interested in and downloads apps on to the iPads that link to their hobbies and interests such as games, music and Google earth.

“It’s amazing where an iPad can take you, and how it can help you feel more connected and contacted to home.”

Member at Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Delivering the BOSS (Be Online Stay Safe) project

The BOSS (Be Online Stay Safe) project supports older people who were currently not online due to a lack of confidence and skills, as well as those who are already online but who may not be aware of online safety measures. Alongside the project delivery partners, Leeds Irish Health and Homes delivered six core sessions which were focused on key themes:

Phone settings
Sending and receiving emails
Internet searching
Managing health online
Media literacy online safety
Translation tools

With support from the Mayor’s Safer Communities Fund Leeds Irish Health and Homes has continued to deliver BOSS digital skills sessions. They use the BOSS resources in their luncheon clubs to raise awareness of online scams in an informal environment, talking people through the ways they can stay safe. They partnered with West Yorkshire Police and they invited the Prevent and Protect Delivery Officer to increase people’s confidence and skills in identifying phishing emails and incorrect information online.

“We try to challenge the common misconception that only ‘stupid people’ fall for scams, it can happen to anyone. Through the sessions we have helped people understand how to avoid scams, stay safe, and feel more confident in being online.”

Anne Pearce, Community Digital Inclusion Officer, Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Delivering the Transport Connections project

Leeds Irish Health and Homes worked in partnership with Leeds Older Peoples Forum and 100% Digital Leeds on the Transport Connections project. As part of the project, they identified that many of their service users were without a suitable device to download and use travel apps. In response they used project funding to purchase smartphones to gift to service users in need. 4G data sims via the National Databank were also provided with the smartphones, enabling service users to download travel apps and use digital tools that could help people stay in touch with family, friends, and services.

After identifying the support needed by their service users, Leeds Irish Health and Homes designed a four-week course themed around using bus apps, with the fourth session ending with a practical exercise of booking a ticket and making a journey. The sessions reduced older people’s fears around making journeys using travel apps and increased their independence in navigating the city. Older people felt more confident in using the First Bus and Arriva apps, including to plan journeys to Harrogate, Scarborough, and Saltaire.

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has continued to run these sessions beyond the end of the project, embedding this support into their regular drop in sessions using the resources developed.

“I thoroughly enjoyed visiting Saltaire, York, and Leeds using the bus and train apps. This morning, I did not stand at the bus stop in the rain. I waited in the comfort of my home, tracking the bus on my app and went out a couple of minutes before the bus was due.”

Member at Leeds Irish Health and Homes.

Next Steps

Leeds Irish Health and Homes has a new location at Broom Hill Health Centre which will give the organisation opportunities to reach new audiences, with increased space and resource. They are continuing to work in partnership with 100% Digital Leeds and are keen to expand their current digital inclusion offer. They are currently seeking funding to recruit a third digital inclusion worker to meet demand, and increase their capacity to deliver digital inclusion support across the city.