Research Partnerships in Rural and Remote Virtual Health Innovation Projects: A Scoping Review

INTRODUCTION: Partnerships with research users (e.g., communities, clinicians) are effective in supporting virtual health innovation (VHI) projects to co-develop, implement and evaluate sustainable, relevant innovations that improve care access in rural communities. However, building trusting relationships with underrepresented groups is challenging and time-intensive. OBJECTIVE: To synthesise partnership processes (principles, strategies) and effects (outcomes/impacts) from rural VHI projects. DESIGN: A scoping review of peer-reviewed articles on rural VHI partnership projects (2020-2024) identified through five databases. Partnership principles (norms/beliefs), strategies (observable actions) and outcomes/impacts (short- to long-term effects) were extracted and analysed using directed content analysis. Reporting followed the PRISMA-ScR checklist. FINDINGS: Of 7413 abstracts, 85 articles met inclusion criteria. VHI partnership projects were conducted in 15 countries, covering telehealth, digital education and health apps. Nearly half (45.9%) involved partnerships with Indigenous communities. We identified 149 principles and 80 strategies. Principles commonly related to relationship building (55.3%), shared decision-making (51.8%) and knowledge co-production (49.4%). From nine evaluation studies, 36 outcomes/impacts were extracted, of which 81% were positive. DISCUSSION: While a range of partnership processes and effects were identified, reporting was inconsistent, and few studies incorporated formal evaluations. Future research should adopt systematic approaches to report and evaluate their partnership engagement, thereby expanding the evidence base and facilitating shared learning for more effective and meaningful engagement with rural communities. CONCLUSION: This systematic overview of partnership processes and effects lays the groundwork for more effective, culturally safe engagement. Strengthening partnerships in these contexts can improve healthcare access and reduce rural health disparities.