Addressing ethnic health inequities by improving the inclusiveness of digital health research for South Asians

South Asians are one of the largest ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. They face the multi-faceted burden of higher prevalence of long-term health conditions, worse access to health services, and poorer health outcomes. With the increase in digitally enabled health services, it is important to ensure that digital health apps are helping to address existing ethnic health inequities instead of creating new or exacerbating existing ones. Therefore, we need to engage with South Asians early on and widen their participation in digital health research. However, there are several barriers to doing this effectively. Based on their experience of engaging with South Asians for developing and evaluating four health apps, the authors recommend technology developers and health researchers to understand the cultural context of common health behaviours of South Asians, and then consider the accessibility features of digital health apps and inclusivity of research procedures. This will contribute to making digital health research more inclusive for South Asians, and ultimately to reducing ethnic health inequities.