Telehealth Platforms' Development Impact on Rural Healthcare Access in Burkina Faso: A Scoping Review

Telehealth platforms have been proposed as a solution to improve healthcare access in rural areas, particularly in resource-limited settings such as Burkina Faso. The review will systematically search for relevant literature from academic databases, including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Studies published between and will be included to cover the initial development phase of telehealth platforms in Burkina Faso. A total of 58 studies were identified, with a majority focusing on pilot projects or small-scale deployments, indicating that there is limited evidence of widespread adoption and impact on healthcare access. While some telehealth platforms have shown promise in improving healthcare access for rural populations, the overall impact remains modest due to various implementation challenges such as inadequate infrastructure and user engagement issues. Further research should focus on scaling up successful telehealth initiatives, addressing technological barriers, and enhancing community participation to maximise their benefits. Model estimation used $\hat{\theta}=argmin_{\theta}\sum_i\ell(y_i,f_\theta(x_i))+\lambda\lVert\theta\rVert_2^2$, with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.