Use of digital tools in health education with vulnerable populations: Scoping review

Authors

  • Yenny Marcela Barreto Zorza Universidad del Rosario, Colombia
  • Carolina Lucero Enriquez Guerrero Universidad Nacional de Colombia
  • Pedro Antonio Aya Parra Universidad del Rosario, Colombia
  • Laura A. Rico-Gelvez Universidad del Rosario, Colombia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14482/sun.41.01.843.479

Keywords:

Health education, vulnerable populations, digital technology, mobile application

Abstract

Objective: Identify the use of digital health education tools for vulnerable populations. 

Methods: A scoping review of publications related to the use of digital tools in health education for vulnerable populations. Three stages were developed: 1. Search in Pubmed, Scopus, and BVS databases, 2010 to 2020. 2. Review of titles and abstracts according to the inclusion criteria. Critical reading by the EQUATOR Network guidelines, using checklists according to type of study, in total 19 articles were included. 3. Construction of a matrix in Excel for the systematization of information. 

Results: The majority of the included articles are published in journals classified as Q1 (63.2 %), with an average impact factor of 0.95, published in 2020 (26.3 %), of a quasi-experimental type (47.4 %). Regarding the digital tool, characteristics such as pedagogy used, associated name, technological environment, training for its use, and cost are identified. 

Conclusion: Digital tools are used in health education in different population groups, prioritizing topics such as chronic non-communicable diseases, transmitted by vectors, HIV prevention, and risk factors in perinatal maternal health, all of which require access to the Internet. These have contributed to informing people, however, they highlight the importance of involving the family, generating culturally adapted pedagogical strategies that respond to the health needs of their population, and continue developing studies that show the impact of these technological tools and their usability. 

Author Biographies

Yenny Marcela Barreto Zorza, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia

Profesora, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario. yenny.barreto@urosario.edu.co. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5881-0693

Carolina Lucero Enriquez Guerrero, Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Profesora, Facultad de Enfermería, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. clenriquezg@unal.edu.co. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8065-3452

Pedro Antonio Aya Parra, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia

Profesor, Programa de Ingeniería Biomédica, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Rosario. pedro.aya@urosario.edu.co. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3987-1028

Laura A. Rico-Gelvez, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia

Published

2025-04-01

How to Cite

Barreto Zorza, Y. M., Enriquez Guerrero, C. L., Aya Parra, P. A., & Rico-Gelvez, L. A. (2025). Use of digital tools in health education with vulnerable populations: Scoping review. Salud Uninorte, 41(1), 386–411. https://doi.org/10.14482/sun.41.01.843.479

Issue

Section

Review Article