Internet for All, signed into law on Nov. 15, 2021, provided federal funding for high speed internet infrastructure and access. In addition to internet access, digital equity includes opportunities to develop digital skills. Listen in as we discuss initiatives and research towards achieving digital equity. Guests: Jody Early, PhD, MS, MCHES, CHC, University of Washington Bothell; Colin Rhinesmith, PhD, Digital Equity Research Center.
Learning Objectives:
- Define digital equity
- Explain the link between digital equity and health.
- Explain broadband internet access as a social determinant of health.
- Discuss efforts to promote digital inclusion.
- Identify ways to advocate for digital equity.
- Summarize terminology related to digital equity.
- Identify resources available to programs or coalitions working to advance digital equity.
Target Audience: Public Health Professionals, Community Service Providers
Duration: ~40 minutes
Continuing Education Information: 0.5 Category 1 Credits for CHES (no continuing competency credits)
CHES Provider number: 99036Format: Podcast, Self-Study
Recorded: 3/2023
Hosted by: Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®
Guest Bios:
Dr. Jody Early is a professor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the University of Washington Bothell. As a social scientist and health education specialist, her teaching, scholarship, and praxis largely examine the bio-psycho-social, cultural, and systemic factors that influence the health and well-being of individuals and communities. Her work in higher education and public health spans over 25 years and involves the application of critical, participatory, and digital pedagogies to address barriers to health equity and health education. She works in partnership with communities to co-design, implement and evaluate tailored programs, resources, and technologies that are culturally rooted and community-driven. Jody’s research also examines the link between digital equity and health and the effectiveness of tailored digital technologies and pedagogy in higher education, public health, medicine, and healthcare.
Colin Rhinesmith (he/him) is the Founder and Director of the Digital Equity Research Center at the Metropolitan New York Library Council, a Research Fellow with the Quello Center for Media and Information Policy at Michigan State University, and a Co-Editor-In-Chief of The Journal of Community Informatics. Rhinesmith’s research examines the role of community informatics projects in creating and sustaining healthy digital equity ecosystems. Previously, Dr. Rhinesmith was an Associate Professor and Director of the Community Informatics Lab in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University. He has been a Google Policy Fellow and an Adjunct Research Fellow with New America’s Open Technology Institute, a Senior Fellow with the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society, and a Faculty Associate with the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Disclosures: The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.
