Abstract
Objectives: Digital technologies in public health are primarily used in medical settings and mostly on an individual and passive way of use. There are research gaps on digital media facilitating participation, empowerment, community engagement, and participatory research in community settings. This scoping review aims to map existing literature on digital formats that enable participation in the field of health promotion and prevention in community settings.Design: The databases Medline, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were used to identify studies published from 2010 up to date (date of literature search) onward that used digital formats in all or in the main sequences of the process to enable high levels of participation in health promotion and prevention activities in community settings.Results: This review identified nine out of 11 included studies relevant to the research question. We found five studies that applied qualitative participatory research, two studies on peer support and one study each on empowerment and crowdsourcing. The digital technologies used varied widely and included social media platforms, bulletin boards, online forum webpages, and customized web providers and programs. Most studies mentioned anonymity, flexibility, and convenience as benefits of digital interventions. Some papers reported limitations such as difficulties by interpreting written-only data or the possibility of selection bias due to the digital divide.Conclusion: This scoping review identified only few studies relevant to our objective, indicating an existing gap in research on this topic. Digital formats were found to be particularly suitable for purposes where anonymity and flexibility are beneficial, such as for online peer exchange and peer support programs.
Highlights
The Ottawa Charta and the Alma Ata Declaration defined community participation as a basic element and key principle for health-promoting activities and programs (1, 2)
We focused on intervention or research concepts that used digital formats in all, or in the main sequences of the process for enabling participation or empowerment in the context of health promotion or prevention
Other strengths of this review were the sound methodology based on recommended frameworks of Arksey and O’Malley and the PRISMA checklist for preferred reporting items. This scoping review only found a few studies following a consequent digital format to enable a high level of community participation in health promotion and prevention, indicating an existing gap in research on this topic
Summary
The Ottawa Charta and the Alma Ata Declaration defined community participation as a basic element and key principle for health-promoting activities and programs (1, 2). It is considered one of the most important follow-up documents to the Declaration of Alma-Ata (1978), in which WHO declared basic health care and health promotion to be a fundamental human right. Since these declarations, community participation has become an increasing subject of interest in research and practice (3). Involving members of a community in health promotion may increase the effectiveness of public health interventions and reduce health inequalities for socially disadvantaged groups (4). Community-based participatory strategies are based on the assumption that community members are experts of their own lives and know best how to improve the health of their community (6)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
