2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Broadband Connectivity and Telehealth Adoption: A Systematic Review of Digital Equity and Health Outcomes in Underserved Communities.

Telehealth has emerged as a critical strategy for expanding healthcare access, yet its effectiveness depends fundamentally on broadband connectivity. Persistent disparities in broadband access, quality, and affordability raise concerns that telehealth may reinforce existing inequities rather than mitigate them. This systematic review synthesizes empirical evidence on the relationship between broadband connectivity and telehealth adoption, equity, and health outcomes in underserved communities. Guided by the Digital Divide framework, the review examines how interactions among infrastructure access, digital capacity, and system implementation condition telehealth effectiveness across contexts. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, 42 empirical studies published between 2015 and 2025 were identified and analyzed. Findings reveal substantial geographic concentration of evidence in high-income settings, with limited representation from low- and middle-income regions. Across studies, telehealth adoption and positive health outcomes were consistently associated with reliable broadband connectivity, while low-connectivity environments were linked to disrupted care, reduced engagement, and mixed or negative outcomes. Evidence further indicates that broadband access alone is insufficient; digital literacy, device access, system usability, and institutional support interact with connectivity to shape meaningful telehealth engagement. The reviewed literature also demonstrates considerable heterogeneity in theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches, limiting cross-study comparability. Collectively, the findings indicate that telehealth functions as a socio-technical system in which benefits are realized only when adequate infrastructure and user capacity are jointly present. By positioning broadband connectivity as a foundational condition rather than a contextual variable, this review clarifies why telehealth reduces disparities in some settings while exacerbating them in others. The synthesis provides an evidence base to inform equitable telehealth design, broadband investment strategies, and future research on digital health equity

Authors

Samuel Fakolade Morgan State University [biography]

Fakolade is a researcher whose work focuses on digital health equity, telehealth systems, and the role of broadband connectivity in shaping healthcare access and outcomes in underserved communities. This author’s research applies equity-oriented frameworks, including the Digital Divide framework, to examine how infrastructure, digital capacity, and system design interact to influence telehealth adoption and effectiveness. Using systematic review methodologies aligned with PRISMA 2020 guidelines, their work synthesizes empirical evidence across public health, health informatics, and social science literature to inform equitable telehealth policy, broadband investment strategies, and inclusive digital health system design.
Benjamin Abodunde Yesufu http://orcid.org/0009-0001-6522-7535 Morgan State University [biography]

Benjamin Yesufu is a Ph.D. student in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Morgan State University. His research interests include project management in smart manufacturing systems, sustainable engineering, manufacturing systems optimization, and human-centered, data-driven decision making. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) in Automotive Engineering from Elizade University, Nigeria, where he graduated with first-class honors.
Russel Patrick Chanza Morgan State University
Sarah Halleluyah Adeyemi Morgan State University [biography]

Sarah Halleluyah Adeyemi is a Master student in the Department of Bioinformatics at Morgan State University. She holds a B.Sc. in Microbiology from Mountain Top University, Nigeria. Her research interests focus on gene expression analysis, cardiovascular genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and the application of computational tools in biomedical research. She is also currently working towards being a Data Scientist.

Sarah has research experience from the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, where she contributed to infectious disease diagnostics and antimicrobial studies. She also worked in the R&D division at FrieslandCampina WAMCO, gaining insight into food safety, quality control, and process validation. Currently, she serves as a graduate assistant on interdisciplinary research projects funded by NASA and ETA-STEM, supporting data analysis and science education initiatives.

She is a member of ASEE, IEEE, passionate about STEM education and is passionate about integrating bioinformatics and molecular biology to solve health-related challenges and promote inclusive scientific research.
Julius Ogaga Etuke http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2710-2803 Morgan State University [biography]

Julius Ogaga Etuke is a seasoned civil engineer and Ph.D. Candidate in Civil Engineering at Morgan State University, where his research focuses on sustainable and resilient infrastructure engineering. With over 15 years of consulting and project leadership experience, primarily in Nigeria's infrastructure landscape, he brings a robust, practical perspective to academic inquiry. His doctoral research is at the cutting edge of transportation resilience, integrating virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), climate adaptation modeling, and data-driven solutions to improve disaster preparedness and risk mitigation in complex transportation systems. As a COREN-registered engineer and member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, his work emphasizes impactful research and consultancy that bridges structural design principles with urgent sustainability and resilience challenges.
Dr. Olushola V. Emiola-Owolabi http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-8521-5769 Morgan State University [biography]

Olushola Emiola-Owolabi is an engineering pedagogy specialist, researching active learning in engineering classrooms and specializing in qualitative methods research on teaching and learning – particularly in remote synchronous learning environments.
Dr. Oludare Adegbola Owolabi P.E. Morgan State University [biography]

Dr. Oludare Owolabi, a professional engineer in Maryland, joined the Morgan State University faculty in 2010. He is the director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Development, Smart Innovation and Resilient Engineering Research Lab, Department of Civil Engineering at Morgan State University
Dr. Uttam Gaulee http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3010-2812

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 21, 2026, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 24, 2026