Definition of digital health (sometimes referred to as “mHealth” or “eHealth”): The field of knowledge & practices associated with the use of development and use of digital technologies to improve health (WHO “Global Strategy on Digital Health”).
What digital health looks like: Digital health can help us with a number of functions that can improve service delivery, research, and other efforts—from making and receiving voice calls and SMS messages to providing job aids and managing health data. We can also use various channels to implement digital health—including apps, websites, and social media. Some digital health tools serve providers (for example, online counseling tools), others focus on clients (for example, personal health apps/trackers), and still others focus on supporting systems (for example, an Electronic Medical Register). Digital interventions can also overlap and serve multiple groups—for example, telehealth, which is an interaction between a provider and a client.
What we know about digital health for family planning: Digital interventions can support a change in knowledge and attitudes about family planning, and are particularly attractive to young people. Evidence shows increased efficiency and accuracy with digital systems like registers and data collection systems. While we have an increasing evidence base related to how these digital tools can improve provider knowledge and competency using digital tools, we have limited and mixed evidence about the impact of digital health on behavior change and cost-effectiveness of digital health interventions.
More information on digital health for family planning: