Digital healthcare in public libraries 2002-2025: a scoping review protocol
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Objective
The objective of this scoping review is to explore the use of digital healthcare in public libraries within the literature.
Introduction
Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, reliance on digital healthcare has grown in the past decade and will continue to play an increasingly important role in health service provision in the future, including treatment and management of health conditions. An increasing reliance on these digital technologies may exacerbate longstanding inequalities in healthcare access and socioeconomic disparities more widely. Public libraries offer an opportunity to bridge this divide to improve access to digital healthcare. A scoping review will be conducted to explore existing digital health technologies used in public libraries to inform future research.
Inclusion criteria
Published studies with adolescents and adults, focusing on digital healthcare in public libraries and conducted in any geographical location will be included in this review. Additional limiters include being published in English and conducted and published between 2002 and 2024. Grey literature sources, including theses, posters and preprints will be included in the review, where relevant.
Methods
JBI methodology for Scoping Reviews has been employed for this review. Searches will be conducted using Web of Science, SCOPUS, Pubmed, Library Information and Technology Abstracts (LISTA), Library and Information Science Abstracts(LISA), OpenDisserations and advanced Google search. Sources will be screened by two independent reviewers through 1) title and abstract screening and 2) full text screening. Data will then be charted and presented.
