CNA 2022-25 vFINAL 09202022 MASTER COPY - Flipbook - Page 128
Focus Group members generally agreed with survey respondents9 assessments.
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Holding community classes for older generation or people who have cellular service and use mobile
devices, how to use resources on mobile sites but also making content more accessible on mobile
devices.
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[We need] Boosted public Wi-Fi access
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Should be more public places with access to high-speed internet. They should also be safe because
there is nothing safe, and hackers can be like hack, hack, hack.
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Yes agree, they [community members with lower income] do have access to low-cost internet/phone,
availability of services, resources&. People need to take advantage of the things available.
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Some areas are so rural and cannot get high-speed internet. The costs are a barrier too. I don't know if
[we could] maybe have more [mobile hotspot devices] available for families or work with legislators to
secure internet through a sliding fee and determine the eligible guidelines.
In a very concrete way, digital access is a social determinant of health because of its fundamental role in
connecting people to each other and to resources; it is a lynchpin social and economic justice issue here
and nationwide. This has been all the more true during the pandemic, when telehealth and virtual
schooling became the norm. While in some rural regions, including ours, there are still areas without
high-speed internet or cell access, in general the infrastructure in the U.S. is built out fairly well. Beyond
digital infrastructure, though, access is also about affordability, digital literacy of end users, and access
to the appropriate hardware and software for one9s needs.
Right now in the U.S., affordability of service and equipment is more frequently the cause of lack of access
than geography. Unlike in other wealthy nations, the federal government has imposed no cost controls to
make broadband more affordable. The system is left to market forces, and the result has been
