Cargando…
Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities
The COVID-19 pandemic produced unprecedented adoption and deployment of technology in rural and northern areas; however, this expansion widened the digital divide for many. Evidence shows that older adults’ use of technology has increased. Coupled with an increasing number of available technologies...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
SAGE Publications
2022
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9301350/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35855623 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08404704221108314 |
_version_ | 1784751412546109440 |
---|---|
author | Freeman, Shannon Marston, Hannah R. Ross, Christopher Morgan, Deborah J. Wilson, Gemma Gates, Jessica Kolochuk, Stefani McAloney, Richard |
author_facet | Freeman, Shannon Marston, Hannah R. Ross, Christopher Morgan, Deborah J. Wilson, Gemma Gates, Jessica Kolochuk, Stefani McAloney, Richard |
author_sort | Freeman, Shannon |
collection | PubMed |
description | The COVID-19 pandemic produced unprecedented adoption and deployment of technology in rural and northern areas; however, this expansion widened the digital divide for many. Evidence shows that older adults’ use of technology has increased. Coupled with an increasing number of available technologies to enhance healthcare delivery, social engagement, meaningful activities, and support to carers, we are at a crossroads for change. Emerging strategies used by organizations to promote technology and support efforts to bridge and close the digital divide are discussed. In a post-pandemic society, policy-makers can play a critical role to ensure that improvements, efficiency gains, and lessons learned are fully leveraged to reap the benefits of technology use by older adults, care partners, and the healthcare system. Recommendations are given for policy-makers to capitalize on this opportunity to narrow the digital divide for those in rural and northern communities. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9301350 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | SAGE Publications |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-93013502022-08-31 Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities Freeman, Shannon Marston, Hannah R. Ross, Christopher Morgan, Deborah J. Wilson, Gemma Gates, Jessica Kolochuk, Stefani McAloney, Richard Healthc Manage Forum Original Articles The COVID-19 pandemic produced unprecedented adoption and deployment of technology in rural and northern areas; however, this expansion widened the digital divide for many. Evidence shows that older adults’ use of technology has increased. Coupled with an increasing number of available technologies to enhance healthcare delivery, social engagement, meaningful activities, and support to carers, we are at a crossroads for change. Emerging strategies used by organizations to promote technology and support efforts to bridge and close the digital divide are discussed. In a post-pandemic society, policy-makers can play a critical role to ensure that improvements, efficiency gains, and lessons learned are fully leveraged to reap the benefits of technology use by older adults, care partners, and the healthcare system. Recommendations are given for policy-makers to capitalize on this opportunity to narrow the digital divide for those in rural and northern communities. SAGE Publications 2022-07-20 2022-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9301350/ /pubmed/35855623 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08404704221108314 Text en © 2022 The Canadian College of Health Leaders. All rights reserved. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
spellingShingle | Original Articles Freeman, Shannon Marston, Hannah R. Ross, Christopher Morgan, Deborah J. Wilson, Gemma Gates, Jessica Kolochuk, Stefani McAloney, Richard Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title | Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title_full | Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title_fullStr | Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title_full_unstemmed | Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title_short | Progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the COVID-19 pandemic: A need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
title_sort | progress towards enhanced access and use of technology during the covid-19 pandemic: a need to be mindful of the continued digital divide for many rural and northern communities |
topic | Original Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9301350/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35855623 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/08404704221108314 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT freemanshannon progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT marstonhannahr progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT rosschristopher progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT morgandeborahj progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT wilsongemma progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT gatesjessica progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT kolochukstefani progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities AT mcaloneyrichard progresstowardsenhancedaccessanduseoftechnologyduringthecovid19pandemicaneedtobemindfulofthecontinueddigitaldivideformanyruralandnortherncommunities |