Mobile Health Applications Addressing Health Disparities for Women on Community Supervision: A Scoping Review

Background: Mobile health applications have gained popularity in assisting high-risk, hard-to-reach groups in self-management of health conditions. One such population with high rates of health disparities comprises women under community supervision. In this review, we examine the literature on mHealth applications to address health disparities among women under community supervision. Methods: We searched CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycInfo for peer-reviewed research articles conducted in the U.S. After removal of duplicates, review of 231 article titles and abstracts and 36 articles for full-text review yielded five articles for analysis. Extracted data include author, year, design, sample, objectives, conclusions, measures, interventions and analytic approach. Results: Of the five studies that addressed health disparities of individuals under community supervision, one was done with participants on probation, four with participants on medication therapy for substance use disorder, and one with participants in a drug court program. Only one article was specific to women or controlled for ethnicity. No studies were done with those on parole. None done with populations outside the U.S. Conclusion: Few studies focused on health disparities of women under community supervision. mHealth applications that address substance use, reproductive and sexual health, and safety issues specific to women under community supervision are warranted.