# Establishing the Digital Health Equity & Literacy Program (D-HELP): a student-led initiative to address digital health literacy gaps among emergency department patients at rush

## TL;DR

A student-led program called D-HELP was created to help emergency department patients improve their digital health literacy through in-person education.

## Contribution

The program introduces a scalable, low-resource model for promoting digital health engagement in clinical settings.

## Key findings

- 68% of approached patients received some level of digital health education.
- Seven patients registered for MyChart on-site after receiving assistance.
- Patients showed strong receptiveness to the intervention.

## Abstract

To describe the development and early implementation of the Digital Health Equity & Literacy Program (D-HELP), a student-led quality improvement initiative to promote digital health engagement in the emergency department (ED).

Trained student volunteers at Rush University Medical Center delivered in-person education on Epic MyChart and Rush On Demand telehealth services in English and Spanish. Eligible adult patients were identified through the EHR and engaged when clinically appropriate.

Over 4 months, 94 patients were approached, with 64 (68%) patients receiving some level of intervention. Volunteers documented encounter type, interpreter use, and unsolicited patient feedback. MyChart invitations were sent to 27 patients, with 7 registering on-site.

D-HELP demonstrated feasibility, flexibility, and strong patient receptiveness in the ED setting. The model’s low-resource, student-driven design supports scalability and provides a framework for expanding digital health literacy initiatives across diverse clinical settings while addressing social determinants of digital access.