Digital mental health interventions in Indigenous and Traditional Communities of the Global South: A scoping review protocol

Abstract

Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) have demonstrated considerable potential to address mental health needs across diverse populations by offering scalable, adaptable, and cost-effective solutions. Nevertheless, their implementation in the Global South – particularly among Indigenous peoples and traditional communities – remains scattered and insufficiently systematised. These communities frequently face structural inequalities, limited access to formal mental health services, and distinct sociocultural frameworks that necessitate the development of culturally appropriate digital interventions. To date, existing reviews have focused predominantly on high-income countries, highlighting the urgent need to synthesise context-specific evidence from low- and middle-income settings. Therefore, this protocol outlines the design of a scoping review aimed at examining the available evidence on DMHIs targeting Indigenous peoples and traditional communities in the Global South. The scoping review will include articles resulting from primary research, systematic reviews, and opinion papers related to DMHIs in Indigenous and traditional populations in the Global South. No restrictions will be applied regarding the languages and year of publication. The review will be conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews and reported following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. The search will be carried out in the following databases: MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Scopus, Embase, BVS Lilacs, African Index Medicus (AIM) and Index Medicus for the South-East Asia Region (IMSEAR). Study selection and data extraction will be undertaken independently by three reviewers. The findings will be summarised descriptively and presented in tables and figures, accompanied by a narrative synthesis.