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A 777ӰԺ Leicester (DMU) researcher is turning to the past to help older people make sense of the digital present.

Dr Josie Barnard has been leading creative workshops that use historical medical objects to help older adults feel more confident using digital health tools such as the NHS app. By placing familiar items from decades past next to today’s technology, Josie is helping people make connections — and build digital confidence in the process.

She teamed up with Katharine Short of DMU Archives who brought along some of the items from DMU Archives’ collection of medical kit.

“In one session, we passed around a 1950s midwife’s kit,” said Dr Barnard. “It had everything you’d need for a home birth in about 1955. Then we started talking about how that compares to today — how you used to rummage through the bag to find what you needed, and now we rummage around in an app. The gestures are different, but the logic is often the same.”

From a medical dictionary placed alongside WebMD, to health statistics from 1940s Leicester compared to today’s digital health records, the workshop – part of a research study funded by Oxford University in conjunction with John Hopkins Medical Institute - blended nostalgia, conversation and creative writing. The aim was to help people see technology as something they can understand rather than something to be feared.

Community group the Belgrave Zoomies, originally formed during lockdown for “exercise and chit chat” on Zoom, attended the workshop at Leicester Castle. The group meets regularly for knitting, support, and connection online and in person.

“People were saying, please don’t stop this group — some of us are housebound or isolated,” said Bharti Mistry, from the Leicester charity Reaching People, who has been supporting the work. “These sessions helped open up conversations about digital healthcare and the real, practical barriers people face.”

People were able to share stories about old wives’ tales they had learned growing up, and how healthcare had changed.

For many, the NHS app and services like eConsult, where people book a virtual medical appointment, have felt alien and intimidating. But by starting with curiosity and linking to the past people began to explore these tools more confidently.

“It was really scary at first,” one participant admitted. “But now I can check my blood test results online. It’s so much quicker than waiting for a call or going to the doctor.”

Others still feel unsure. “I find it confusing,” one woman said. “I pick up the phone and my grandson always solves it.”

Dr Barnard said: “People often describe the Internet as both scary and excellent. That’s exactly how it feels — and that’s okay.”