Digital health interventions and inequalities: the case for a new paradigm
Open accessAbstract
Ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease (the most common cardiovascular diseases, CVD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) represent the 2nd, 3rd and 11th leading causes of disease burden1 in England. Both CVD and DM2 are targeted in high-level prevention policies, but variations in risk factors, diseases3 and outcomes,4 as well as treatment and access to services, persist on the basis of ethnicity, which has long been recognised as one of the ‘causes of the causes’ of health inequalities.5 Consideration of ethnicity in health policy has contributed to improved outcomes in ischaemic heart disease in South Asians in the last two decades in the UK,6 showing the benefits of targeted interventions. The NHS Outcomes Framework includes 11 metrics for health inequalities,7 but although ethnicity is mentioned, it is variably recorded in routine data, limiting the scope for measurement and analysis of healthcare use in black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals. Digital health interventions (DHIs), ‘interventions delivered via digital technologies such as smartphones, website, text messaging’,8 could improve healthcare nationally and internationally, facilitating healthcare’s ‘triple aim’ of better care, better health outcomes and reduced costs.9 Systematic reviews support DHIs for improving outcomes in DM10 and CVD,11 and they are actively promoted in national policies (eg, diabetes prevention programme digital stream, heart age calculator in the cardiovascular disease …
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Race and ethnicity have long been considered one of the causes of the causes of health inequities.
“Race and ethnicity have long been considered as one of the causes of the causes of health inequities”
From Inequities in Health Care Services Caused by the Adoption of Digital Health Technologies: Scoping Review (2022) · cites this paper as [51]
The acknowledged health benefits of eHealth or mobile health initiatives have seen limited application among Black communities.
“the acknowledged health benefits of eHealth or mobile health initiatives have seen limited application among Black communities”
From Inequities in Health Care Services Caused by the Adoption of Digital Health Technologies: Scoping Review (2022) · cites this paper as [51]
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Cites
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- Authors
- Banerjee, A.
- Affiliations
- University College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Banerjee, Amitava
- ORCID
- Banerjee, Amitava
- Venue
- BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2019-11-21
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 77-78
- ISSN
- 1356-5524 (ISSN-L)
- 2515-446X
- 2515-4478
- OpenAlex
- W2989995880
- Cited by
- 13
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 2.40
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- discovery.ucl.ac.uk
- Locations
- BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (CL-2010-09-002, RP-DG-0117-10003)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Health Promotion and Cardiovascular Prevention
- Keywords
- digital health interventions, health disparities, ethnicity, black and minority ethnic populations, ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease prevention, targeted interventions, digital health policy
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