Equity within digital health technology within the WHO European Region: a scoping review

Overview

Health-care providers are increasingly using digital health technology (DHT) to enable patients and the public to manage their health and engage with health-care systems; a process that rapidly accelerated as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted services online. The uptake and development of digital health systems has the potential for widespread benefits through more efficient and targeted health care. Yet a focus on digital approaches may inadvertently widen existing inequities in health if known inequalities in access, use and engagement with digital technology are not considered and addressed. Equitable patient-centred approaches are at the centre of the proposed action plan for digital health for the WHO European Region.

This scoping review explores the extent of inequities in digital health across a comprehensive range of specific characteristics. It also identifies key areas that need to be considered when integrating digital health into health-care systems to ensure equity.