JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

In the rush to develop technologies for the COVID-19 pandemic, the unintended consequence of digital health inequity, or the inability for some people to access, use and receive equal benefits from these technologies was not well examined.

Objective:

This scoping review will examine validated tools and approaches that can be used during digital innovation to improve digital health equity outcomes, defined as equitable access to, outcomes from, and inclusion in the development of digital health technologies. Results will provide actionable insights for healthcare, health informatics, digital health, and technology development to proactively centre equity during innovation.

Methods:

Based on the Arksey and O’Malley framework this scoping review will consider the digital health equity of underserved stakeholders. Studies that are assess by stakeholders to have face validity, or that can demonstrate digital health equity outcomes, will be included. Bibliographic databases in health, medicine, and computing and information sciences will be searched. Grey literature sources will include the World Health Organization's publications database Institutional Repository for Information Sharing (IRIS), and a structured advanced Google search. Retrieved citations will be double screened against the inclusion and exclusion criteria, using Covidence software. Data will be charted using a tailored extraction tool and mapped to the Centre for eHealth Research (CeHRes) Roadmap for eHealth technologies, to identify which stages of development are addressed. An accompanying narrative synthesis will describe the outcomes in relation to the review's objectives.

Results:

Funding received October 1, 2023, from the Centre for Health Equity Incubator Grant Scheme, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Conclusions:

This paper will identify and recommend in a series of validated tools and approaches that can be used by healthcare stakeholders and IT developers to produce equitable digital health across the pathway of digital health innovation.