TITLE: Quality of interactions between health workers and women, parents, caregivers and families using digital health technologies for maternal, newborn and child health: a scoping review
AUTHORS: Soha Karam, Katie Moore, Elizabeth Katwan, Anayda Gerarda Portela, Helen Smith

[DESCRIPTION]
WHO/MCA has been working to develop a tool to assess the quality of digital interactions between health workers and women/parents/caregivers/families for improved MNCH, including reviewing existing guidance and publications, consulting with experts in MNCH and digital health, and formulating the elements of an initial draft tool. 

A consultation meeting was held in Geneva in April 2023 to review initial concepts and configurations for the draft tool with digital and MNCH experts, where it was also agreed that such a tool could potentially be more user-friendly and easier to implement in a digital or web-based format. Prior to the meeting an initial desk review was conducted to map the current literature relating to health worker and client experience of digital health technologies, which informed the initial concepts and the discussion. One of the next steps identified at the meeting was to conduct a formal scoping review
of the most recent peer-reviewed literature, expanding the inclusion criteria to include other health fields and potentially other sectors. 

This scoping review will be expansive to maximize the learning about the quality and experience of both in-person health worker-client interactions, and in interactions using digital technology. It will include evidence from the health and education sectors. The review will identify from the retrieved literature, criteria, methods, tools, checklists or standards and research or evaluation specifically related to assessing the quality of interactions using digital health technologies. The findings can be used to: a) develop a list of criteria for quality digital interactions between health workers and women, families and caregivers; and b) through a subsequent process of consensus and prioritization, identify criteria to be included in an assessment tool for MNCH.

Scoping review question: What is known from the available peer-reviewed literature about the quality and experience of interactions using digital health technology, to inform the development of a quality assessment tool for digital technology in MNCH.

Aim: To map and summarize the literature on the quality of interactions using digital technology in health (FP, MNCH, PMTCT) and in education, and identify criteria, tools, methods, checklists or standards for assessing quality of interactions, in order to inform next steps and support the development of a tool to assess the quality of health worker-client interactions using digital technology for MNCH. 

Objectives: 
To identify published literature on the quality and experience of in-person health worker-client interaction in FP, MNCH and PMTCT counselling. 
To identify published literature on the quality and experience of health worker-client interactions using digital health technology in FP, MNCH and PMTCT counselling.  
To identify published literature on the quality and experience of interactions using digital technology in the education sector 
To use the retrieved literature to identify methods, tools, checklists or standards and research or evaluation specifically related to interaction and interpersonal communication using digital health technologies.  

[STEPS]