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This study aims to examine the public's knowledge and perceptions of connected health (CH).A structured questionnaire was administered by face-to-face interview to an opportunistic sample of 1003 members of the public in 11 shopping centres across Northern Ireland (NI). Topics included public knowledge of CH, opinions about who should provide CH and views about the use of computers in health care. Multivariable analyses were conducted to assess respondents' willingness to use CH in the future.Sixty-seven per cent of respondents were female, 31% were less than 30 years old and 22% were over 60 years. Most respondents had never heard of CH (92%). Following a standard definition, the majority felt CH was a good idea (≈90%) and that general practitioners were in the best position to provide CH; however, respondents were equivocal about reductions in health care professionals' workload and had some concerns about the ease of device use. Factors positively influencing willingness to use CH in the future included knowledge of someone who has a chronic disease, residence in NI since birth and less concern about the use of information technology (IT) in health care. Those over 60 years old or who felt threatened by the use of IT to store personal health information were less willing to use CH in the future.Increased public awareness and education about CH is required to alleviate concerns and increase the acceptability of this type of care.

The population of the world is ageing. As a result, the incidence of chronic disease is projected to increase, there are predicted shortages in health care workforce and budget restraints; implications for future health care provision are serious. The current model of health care is not equipped to deal with these changes. Connected health care, via the use of health informatics, disease management and home telehealth technologies, has been suggested as an approach to ease the projected strain on future health care. Evidence to date suggests a positive impact of the use of connected health care model; however, the majority of studies have overlooked the involvement of the community pharmacist. As the most common point of contact with primary health services for most of the population, the community pharmacist may be well placed to provide connected health care. The research to date is promising with improvements in outcomes for cardiovascular patients noted; however, further work is required to investigate the potential role the community pharmacist can play in the future of connected health care.