Cover Image
QR Code

Digital Disenfranchisement and COVID-19: Broadband Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health.

According to the Pew Research Center, approximately one quarter of American adults do not have access to broadband internet. This number does not account for the millions of people who are underconnected or lacking a stable internet connection. Although digital disparity in America is not new, the C...

Full description

Published in:Health Promotion Practice Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 605 - 611
Main Authors: Early, Jody, Hernandez, Alyssa
Format: pictorial tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Sep2021
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=151896738&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 151896738
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        15248399
        IS2
      jtl: Health Promotion Practice
      issn: 15248399
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Sep2021
      vid: 22
      iid: 5
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
    artinfo:
      ui:
        151896738
        150222577
        151896738
        151896738
        10.1177/15248399211014490
        151896738
      ppf: 605
      ppct: 6
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Digital Disenfranchisement and COVID-19: Broadband Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health.
      aug:
        au:
          Early, Jody
          Hernandez, Alyssa
        affil: University of Washington Bothell, Bothell, WA, USA
      sug:
        subj:
          Digital Divide
          COVID-19
          Internet Access
          Social Determinants of Health
          Public Health
          Health Promotion
          Right to Health
          Human Rights
      ab: According to the Pew Research Center, approximately one quarter of American adults do not have access to broadband internet. This number does not account for the millions of people who are underconnected or lacking a stable internet connection. Although digital disparity in America is not new, the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has increased our societal dependence on the internet and widened the digital divide. Access to broadband internet has become a basic need in this connected society, linking people to vital resources, such as jobs, education, health care, food, and information. However, it is still an overlooked and understudied issue in public health. In this article, we highlight five key points for why advocating for the expansion of affordable and accessible internet for all should be a priority issue for public health and health promotion. Recent studies offer evidence that digital disenfranchisement contributes to negative health outcomes, economic oppression, and racial injustice. Now more than ever, health advocacy to promote digital equity and inclusion is critical to our meaningful progress toward health equity.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N