Institute of Health Informatics, UCL, 222 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DA, UK.
Department of Psychological Interventions, School of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey, UK.
J Public Health Policy. 2023 Jun;44(2):179-195. doi: 10.1057/s41271-023-00410-z. Epub 2023 Apr 21.
Recent health policies in the United Kingdom (UK) and internationally have focussed on digitisation of healthcare. We examined UK policies for evidence of government action addressing health inequalities and digital health, using cardiometabolic disease as an exemplar. Using a systematic search methodology, we identified 87 relevant policy documents published between 2010 and 2022. We found increasing emphasis on digital health, including for prevention, diagnosis and management of cardiometabolic disease. Several policies also focused on tackling health inequalities and improving digital access. The COVID-19 pandemic amplified inequalities. No policies addressed ethnic inequalities in digital health for cardiometabolic disease, despite high prevalence in minority ethnic communities. Our findings suggest that creating opportunities for digital inclusion and reduce longer-term health inequalities, will require future policies to focus on: the heterogeneity of ethnic groups; cross-sectoral disadvantages which contribute to disease burden and digital accessibility; and disease-specific interventions which lend themselves to culturally tailored solutions.
最近英国（UK）和国际上的卫生政策都集中在医疗保健的数字化上。我们以心血管代谢疾病为例，研究了英国政策中针对解决健康不平等和数字健康的政府行动证据。我们使用系统的搜索方法，确定了 2010 年至 2022 年期间发布的 87 份相关政策文件。我们发现越来越重视数字健康，包括心血管代谢疾病的预防、诊断和管理。一些政策还侧重于解决健康不平等问题和改善数字获取途径。COVID-19 大流行加剧了不平等现象。尽管少数族裔社区中存在较高的数字健康不平等现象，但没有政策针对心血管代谢疾病的种族数字健康不平等问题。我们的研究结果表明，为了创造数字包容的机会并减少长期健康不平等，未来的政策需要重点关注：族裔群体的异质性；导致疾病负担和数字可及性的跨部门劣势；以及适合文化定制解决方案的疾病特异性干预措施。
