Remote preventive and digital health promotion services in primary and community healthcare in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review protocol

13 Jul 20264 min read0 viewsJournal Feed

GIST (Key Takeaways)

Introduction Primary healthcare (PHC) systems in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) continue to prioritise reactive, curative models of care, despite the region's pressing need for health-promotive and preventative strategies. Instead of disrupting the existing curative model, the expansion of digital health often automates old, treatment-oriented systems with a limited focus on creating new tools for preventive and health-promoting functions.
While there is no shortage of reviews on digital health and telemedicine in SSA, these predominantly focus on curative care and service delivery within the walls of healthcare facilities. An understanding of how remotely provided preventive and health-promoting services can be implemented by PHC facilities to strengthen the PHC overall is currently lacking.
Addressing this gap is critical for guiding research, policy and practice towards designing more preventive and proactive PHC service models. Methods and analysis This protocol details a scoping review that will identify and establish what is currently known about the implementation and feasibility of remote preventive and digital health-promoting services as potential levers to strengthen PHC in SSA.

Clinical Editorial

BMJ Open published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 13 Jul 2026.

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