E-participation in policy-making for health: a scoping review protocol

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e080538
• Main Authors: Esmailzadeh, Hamid, Mafimoradi, Shiva, Gholami, Masoumeh, Mansourzadeh, Mohammad Javad, Rajabi, Fatemeh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 16.09.2024; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Subjects: Citizen participation; Civil society; Clinical governance; Community Participation - methods; COVID-19; Decision making; Empowerment; Gamification; Health Policy; Humans; Information sharing; Information systems; Policy Making; Power; Protocol; Public administration; PUBLIC HEALTH; Research Design; Review Literature as Topic; Social Interaction; PUBLIC HEALTH; Health policy; Social Interaction; Clinical governance
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-080538

IntroductionFor the general public, e-participation represents a potential solution to the challenges associated with in-person participation in health policy-making processes. By fostering democratic engagement, e-participation can enhance civic legitimacy and trust in public institutions. However, despite its importance, there is currently a gap in the literature regarding a comprehensive synthesis of studies on various aspects of e-participation in the health policy domain. These aspects include levels of participation, underlying mechanisms, barriers, facilitators, values and outcomes. To address this gap, our proposed scoping review aims to systematically investigate and classify the available literature related to e-participation in policy-making for health.Methods and analysisWe will employ the Population, Concept and Context framework developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005). Our population of interest will consist of participants involved in policy-making for health, including both government organisers of e-participation and participating citizens (the governed). To identify relevant studies, we will systematically search databases such as CINAHL (EBSCO), Academic Search Premier (EBSCO), Social Services Abstracts (ProQuest), Scopus (Elsevier), EMBASE (Elsevier), The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Campbell Collaboration, JBI Evidence Synthesis and PubMed using a predefined search strategy. Two independent reviewers will conduct a three-tiered screening process for identified articles, with a third reviewer resolving any discrepancies. Data extraction will follow a predefined yet flexible form. The results will be summarised in a narrative format, presented either in tabular or diagrammatic form.Ethics and disseminationThe National Institute of Health Research of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ethics committee has approved this review study. Our findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations and targeted knowledge-sharing sessions with relevant stakeholders.