Designing a Digital Diagnostic Toolkit for Disability-Inclusive Health

One billion people in the world live with a life-affecting disability. At the same time, they are more likely to be denied healthcare, face discrimination in health services, and experience health disparities. To advance the rights and inclusion of people with disabilities, the Missing Billion initiative has developed the first-of-its-kind digital diagnostic toolkit for inclusive health for government and policymakers globally. The toolkit is used to assess a country’s current status on disability-inclusive health and derive tangible areas and actions for improvement. 

The Missing Billion team has built an inclusive health systems framework, defined indicators, and collected best practices for the diagnostic toolkit. The toolkit has also been tested with research partners in the Maldives, Brazil, and Zimbabwe. Scope supported the Missing Billion in refining the digital diagnostic toolkit with and for government and policymakers. The finalised toolkit describes health assessment approaches and indicators with practical templates and worksheets, setting the standard approach to initial diagnosis across countries.

Project Approach

Scope carried out user workshops in close partnership with the Missing Billion team and the project’s global expert steering committee. Our participatory design expertise ensured efficiency and ownership while engaging the target audience and health experts at every step of the design process. First, we conducted formative research to gain deeper user insights. Then we co-designed and tested diagnostic tool use cases and service journeys with health system participants in three countries, building additional content for the toolkit as needed. Lastly, we developed the digital diagnostic toolkit’s visual concept, user interface, and interactive content that will be hosted on the Missing Billion website.

Project Outcomes

Scope delivered a user-and mobile-friendly digital experience of the diagnostic toolkit for Ministries of Health and other health system actors. This innovative, universally applicable health system tool assists programme planners, technical experts, and policymakers in identifying and launching improvements across health systems.