Bridging the Gap: A Role of Hospital Patient Portals in Advancing Digital Health Equity for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities

This thesis examines patient portals' capacity to support digital health equity for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities in Victoria, Australia. Using Soft Systems Methodology and the Digital Health Equity Framework (DHEF), the multi-stakeholder qualitative study reveals that while portals offer potential benefits, current implementations fail CALD communities due to limited awareness, linguistic barriers, cultural design assumptions, and underutilized community partnerships. The primary contribution expands the DHEF by introducing an organizational level, demonstrating that digital health equity depends on interdependent organizational, social, and structural dynamics. Achieving equity requires reimagining portals as an equity-centred socio-technical intervention grounded in genuine community partnership.