Digital Health Social Justice Toolkit

The Toolkit

We are developing a Digital Health Social Justice Toolkit to provide guidelines, case studies and resources for the design, testing and evaluation of digital health applications from a social justice perspective. 

We focus on mobile health and use examples that connect social justice theory to real-world strategies and methods to increase the accessibility and relevance of digital health platforms to marginalized and underserved groups. We discuss what digital health social justice is, why we need to use a social justice approach, and how researchers can design, study, and evaluate digital health solutions using a social justice framework.
Toolkit Questions Figure

Background Information

According to the World Health Organization, digital health strategies – the use of apps, text messaging, and online interventions for health – can “promote health, keep the world safe, and serve the vulnerable.” Digital health strategies could revolutionize healthcare by helping people self-manage symptoms, engage in healthy behaviors (e.g. regular physical activity, adequate sleep, and proper nutrition), and connect them to health information and resources. Because mobile devices are pervasive, digital health interventions can increase access to health education and management when too few professionals can provide them.

However, the rapid growth of digital health apps, remote health provision, and online health information can also hinder health equity. Despite its potential for promoting population health and serving marginalized communities, digital health interventions are often not designed for all who could benefit from them or may have unintended consequences. Privacy vulnerabilities and power imbalances plague the field of medicine, and racism, sexism, and other biases continue to influence health app design and research. 

The most common understanding of social justice is fairness, especially in how people are treated, what opportunities they have, and how decisions are made. Social justice in health is not just the right to be free of disease–it is the right for all to enjoy the highest personally attainable standard of physical health, mental health, and well-being.

We define digital health social justice as the equitable opportunity for everyone to access, use, and benefit from digital health, to achieve their greatest standard of health and wellbeing.