DECOLONISING DIGITAL HEALTH PROMOTION IN AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A JUSTICE-ORIENTED LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Digital technologies are increasingly central to higher education globally, yet their integration into health promotion in African higher education institutions (HEIs) often reproduces structural, cultural, and epistemic inequalities. While digitalisation has expanded access to health education, it remains shaped by colonial legacies, linguistic hierarchies, and externally controlled technological infrastructures. This conceptual paper develops a Digital Health Justice Framework to address these challenges and guide equitable and culturally responsive digital health promotion in African HEIs. Drawing on a critical synthesis of four key elements, literature, digitalisation, health promotion, equity, and digital divides, Critical Digital Pedagogy (CDP) and Decolonial Theory, the paper integrates micro-level pedagogical approaches with macro-structural analyses. Five interrelated pillars are articulated: inclusive access, culturally responsive pedagogy and linguistic justice, epistemic plurality, participatory co-design, and digital sovereignty. Together, these pillars offer a multidimensional framework that stresses agency, culture, and power in digital health education. The paper argues that without intentional pedagogical transformation and structural reform, digitalisation risks perpetuating existing inequities. By contrast, adopting a digital health justice lens enables HEIs to become active producers of contextually relevant, equitable, and sovereign digital health promotion. This framework contributes to both the theoretical advancement of digital justice debates and the practical transformation of health promotion in African higher education. This paper contributes to educational theory by integrating decolonial and pedagogical lenses to inform digital health promotion strategies in higher education.