Abstract
The emergence of various tools and technologies has contributed to the creation of new roles in healthcare, such as digital navigators, who support both clinicians and patients with the adoption and sustained use of these technologies. The digital navigator role is gaining traction for its potential to be adapted and scaled across diverse healthcare settings. However, the formalization of digital navigator roles in healthcare remains limited. This review presents a comprehensive summary of the characteristics of digital navigator roles and their reported implementation practice characteristics. This review utilized the PRISMA-ScR checklist and included 78 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were conducted in the United States (85.9%) and used qualitative (35.9%) or mixed-methods (30.8%), with mobile apps (60.3%) and telemedicine/virtual care (30.8%) being the most frequently reported technologies for which digital navigators provided support. Although available material and human resources were frequently discussed as key determinants of implementation success, only a few studies reported the use of financial strategies (e.g., securing funding). Other insights generated from this review include working toward standardizing core competencies, clearly defining the scope of the role, and documenting caseloads and intensities of training that digital navigators receive before and during the role.
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The authors would like to acknowledge that this study is funded by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant (FRN 197890).
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G.S. and S.K. conceived and secured funding for this review. H.D.S., I.K., J.S. collaborated with a health sciences librarian, T.R., to develop the core search strategy. T.R/ tested, revised, and finalized the core search strategy, translated it for use in selected databases, and ran all database searches. H.D.S., I.K., J.S., C.P., V.M., and S.G. participated in the study selection process. H.D.S., I.K., J.S., C.P., V.M., and S.G. participated in data extraction and analysis. H.D.S. participated in data validation. H.D.S., J.K., and I.K. participated in data visualization. H.D.S., J.K. and V.M. worked on tables and supplementary materials. H.D.S., G.S. wrote the original draft of the review manuscript. H.D.S., J.K., I.K., C.P., S.G., V.M., T.R., J.T., S.K., and G.S. critically reviewed and provided feedback on the manuscript. H.D.S., J.K., and I.K. worked on manuscript revisions. HDS administered the review and G.S. supervised the review.
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Shin, H.D., Kemp, J., Kassam, I. et al. A scoping review of the characteristics, responsibilities, implementations and evaluations of digital navigators in healthcare. npj Digit. Med. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02647-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-026-02647-w
