Exploring the Equity Impact of Current Digital Health Design Practices: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Equity
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Digital health tools offer potential to reduce health inequities.
• Realizing this potential requires understanding how design influences equity.
• Design approaches are key factors impacting digital health equity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review on the impact of digital health design approaches on health equity.
• To synthesize current evidence on how design influences health equity in digital health.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review following established methodologies (Arksey & O'Malley, JBI, PRISMA-ScR).
• Searched multiple databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ACM, ProQuest, Global Index Medicus) for peer-reviewed and gray literature.
• Data extraction and analysis of included studies.

Main Results:

• Preliminary search yielded over 4900 studies, with more expected from gray literature.
• Anticipate a smaller number of studies meeting inclusion criteria after screening and deduplication.

Conclusions:

• Evidence linking digital health design to health equity outcomes is less clear than the discourse suggests.
• Findings will enhance understanding of design's role in digital health equity.
• Aims to translate findings into actionable strategies for more equitable healthcare systems.