eSignposting: A Rapid, System-Level Approach to Increase Access to Behavior Change Interventions

Despite strong evidence supporting behavior change interventions, their population-level impact faces a persistent research-to-practice gap. This perspective piece argues this is partly due to barriers within health systems, including a reliance on clinician-led referral pathways. We introduce electronic signposting (eSignposting) for rapid, proactive, and scalable access to behavior change interventions. It identifies eligible individuals through electronic health records and delivers automated digital signposting to behavioral support. We demonstrate implementation of eSignposting within the NHS to increase reach with minimal workload. We consider the mechanisms that influence its adoption/effectiveness, and how ecosystem mapping and implementation blueprints can support wider adoption and integration. We argue that redesigning implementation at the health-system level is needed for population-level reach.