Equitable health care delivery for adult Nova Scotians: a scoping review protocol.

Objective: The objective of this review is to identify international and Nova Scotian standards of care, CPGs, and policies informing equitable health care.

Introduction: The lack of attention given to intersectional health care needs of diverse populations perpetuates health inequities among under-served groups, creating an urgent need for health care reform globally.

Inclusion Criteria: This scoping review will include standards of care, CPGs, and policies focusing on equity-related health indicators. Academic and gray literature sources, published from 2014 to present, will be considered if they relate to one or more defined equity-related health indicators. Sources will be excluded if they do not explicitly relate to standards of care, CPGs, or policies for equitable health care delivery.

Methods: This scoping review will be guided by Intersectionality Theory and conducted in accordance with the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. Academic databases MEDLINE ALL (Ovid) and Embase (Elsevier) will be searched using identified search terms. An advanced Google search will be undertaken to identify gray literature sources. A 2-phased approach will be conducted to identify sources that will be synthesized and presented in tabular format using equity-related health indicators, providing an inventory of health equity standards of care, CPGs, or policies to be disseminated to health care providers in Nova Scotia.

Review Registration: Open Science Framework https://osf.io/6rnx2.