article · Discover Social Science and Health
Digital health technologies, such as telemedicine, mobile applications, and electronic health records, have seen accelerated global adoption and can expand healthcare access, efficiency, and resilience. However, they also risk worsening existing inequities. Across both high-income and low- and middle-income nations, factors such as poor infrastructure, high costs, low digital literacy, language barriers, and lack of trust systematically exclude vulnerable populations, including rural residents, the elderly, impoverished communities, and people with disabilities. Digital tools used in social, cultural, and nature-based prescribing face these same challenges. To advance universal health coverage equitably, digital health implementation must move beyond high-level policy. It requires inclusive design, targeted investments in infrastructure and literacy, strong data protection regulations, localized community engagement, and equity-focused monitoring systems that use real-time, disaggregated data to ensure vulnerable groups are not left behind.
Digital healthcare tools are often viewed as universal solutions for expanding medical care, but they can unintentionally widen the gap between connected and unconnected populations. Understanding these equity barriers helps policymakers, healthcare providers, and technology developers create digital health initiatives that actively include marginalised communities rather than cutting them off from essential services.
Developers of telemedicine platforms, mobile health tools, and referral systems can apply these insights to build more inclusive products. Addressing accessibility needs, digital literacy barriers, and data protection enables deployment among underserved users. Because this commentary focuses on policy, system design recommendations, and governance frameworks rather than a proprietary tool, it operates as early-stage guidance for guiding equitable digital health solutions.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digital health technologies worldwide, positioning them as pivotal tools in the pursuit of universal health coverage (UHC). This commentary critically examines the dual potential of digital health: while innovations such as telemedicine, mobile health applications, and electronic health records have, in certain contexts, expanded access, improved efficiency, and strengthened health system resilience, they have also exposed and exacerbated longstanding inequities. The analysis drawing on examples from both high-income and low- and middle-income countries, highlights how the digital divide rooted in disparities of infrastructure, affordability, digital literacy, and trust systematically excludes marginalized groups including the poor, elderly, rural residents, and people with disabilities. Case studies from diverse global settings reveal both the transformative promise of inclusive digital health initiatives and the persistent risks of digital exclusion. This positioning is particularly relevant to social, cultural, and nature-based prescribing, where digital systems may support referral, navigation, follow-up, and equity monitoring, but may also exclude populations with limited digital access, low digital literacy, disability, language barriers, or mistrust of digital platforms. To ensure digital health acts as a bridge, not a barrier, to UHC, this commentary reinforces and refines evidence-based policy recommendations previously proposed in the literature, updating them with insights from recent global health crises like COVID-19 and emerging data on digital exclusion. Building on established frameworks, we advocate for prioritizing inclusive design with a focus on intersectional barriers, investing in infrastructure and digital literacy tailored to post-pandemic recovery needs, enacting robust data protection regulations informed by recent cybersecurity challenges, fostering community engagement through localized trust-building models, and embedding equity-focused monitoring and evaluation using real-time, disaggregated data to address persistent gaps. These refinements aim to bridge the gap between high-level policy and actionable, context-sensitive implementation, enhancing their relevance and impact for achieving UHC. The conclusion underscores that digital health is not a panacea; its impact on health equity depends on deliberate, context-sensitive strategies that centre the needs of the most vulnerable. As health systems increasingly digitize, the imperative remains to ask: who benefits, and who is left behind? Only by addressing these questions can digital health truly advance the goal of health for all.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1007/s44155-026-00447-x
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
