Digital Health Paradox: International Policy Perspectives to Address Increased Health Inequalities for People Living With Disabilities

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of digital health worldwide and highlighted many benefits of these innovations. However, it also stressed the magnitude of inequalities regarding accessing digital health. Using a scoping review, this article explores the potential benefits of digital tec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical Internet research Vol. 24; no. 2; p. e33819
Main Authors: van Kessel, Robin, Hrzic, Rok, O'Nuallain, Ella, Weir, Elizabeth, Wong, Brian Li Han, Anderson, Michael, Baron-Cohen, Simon, Mossialos, Elias
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Canada Journal of Medical Internet Research 22.02.2022
Gunther Eysenbach MD MPH, Associate Professor
JMIR Publications
Subjects:
Australia
Autism
Canada
Case studies
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Digital literacy
Digital technology
Disability
Disability studies
Disease transmission
Ecosystem
Employment
Epidemics
Estonia
False information
Foreign policy
Health care
Health care policy
Health disparities
Health education
Health literacy
Health services
Health Status Disparities
Humans
Inequality
Infrastructure
Innovations
Literacy
Medical policy
Pandemics
People with disabilities
Persons with Disabilities
Policy
Population
Public health
SARS-CoV-2
Sweden
Technological change
Technology and civilization
United Kingdom
United States
Uptake
Viewpoint
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Sweden
Australia
Estonia
United Kingdom > UK
inclusion
health systems
digital health
health policy
disability
people living with disabilities
digital technologies
eHealth
ISSN:1438-8871, 1439-4456, 1438-8871
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of digital health worldwide and highlighted many benefits of these innovations. However, it also stressed the magnitude of inequalities regarding accessing digital health. Using a scoping review, this article explores the potential benefits of digital technologies for the global population, with particular reference to people living with disabilities, using the autism community as a case study. We ultimately explore policies in Sweden, Australia, Canada, Estonia, the United Kingdom, and the United States to learn how policies can lay an inclusive foundation for digital health systems. We conclude that digital health ecosystems should be designed with health equity at the forefront to avoid deepening existing health inequalities. We call for a more sophisticated understanding of digital health literacy to better assess the readiness to adopt digital health innovations. Finally, people living with disabilities should be positioned at the center of digital health policy and innovations to ensure they are not left behind.
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ISSN:1438-8871
1439-4456
1438-8871
DOI:10.2196/33819