Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Objectives: This study examines the digital divide between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White older adults in the United States from 2011 to 2021, using an intersectionality perspective. Methods: Eleven waves of data from the National Health and Aging Trend were analyzed through multilevel logistic regression, focusing on the intersection between race/ethnicity and time (measured by survey waves) within gender, education, and income subgroups. The digital divide was measured by Internet access. Results: Despite the enduring digital access gap, the longitudinal analysis revealed a narrowing digital divide between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White older adults, especially those with low education and income. Discussion: The observed trend signifies progress in digital inclusivity initiatives yet highlights ongoing challenges in fully bridging the divide for the Hispanic older adult community. Future efforts should not only focus on access but also on enhancing the effective usage of digital technologies to promote health equity and well-being.

Keywords

digital divide Hispanic intersectionality

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Administration for Community Living . (2021). 2020 profile of older Americans. https://acl.gov/sites/default/files/aging_and_Disability_In_America/2020Profileolderamericans.final_.pdf

Bazargan

Cobb

Assari

(2021). Discrimination and medical mistrust in a racially and ethnically diverse sample of California adults. The Annals of Family Medicine, 19(1), 4–15. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2632

Brown

López

M. H.

(2016). Digital divide narrows for Latinos as more Spanish speakers and immigrants go online. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2016/07/20/digital-divide-narrows-for-latinos-as-more-spanish-speakers-and-immigrants-go-online/

Cho

Crenshaw

K. W.

McCall

(2013). Toward a field of intersectionality studies: Theory, applications, and praxis. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 38(4), 785–810. https://doi.org/10.1086/669608

Choi

N. G.

DiNitto

D. M.

(2013). The digital divide among low-income homebound older adults: Internet use patterns, eHealth literacy, and attitudes toward computer/internet use. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 15(5), Article e93. https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.2645

Crenshaw

K. W.

(1988). Toward a race-conscious pedagogy in legal education. National Black Law Journal, 11(1). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0qp9p46c

Crenshaw

K. W.

(2013). From private violence to mass incarceration: Thinking intersectionally about women, race, and social control. Journal of Scholarly Perspectives, 9(01). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7mp3k6m3

Delgado

Stefancic

(2023). Critical race theory: An introduction (Vol. 87). NyU press.

Early

Hernandez

(2021). Digital disenfranchisement and COVID-19: Broadband internet access as a social determinant of health. Health Promotion Practice, 22(5), 605–610. https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399211014490

10.

Erickson

Johnson

G. M.

(2011). Internet use and psychological wellness during late adulthood. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue Canadienne Du Vieillissement, 30(2), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0714980811000109

11.

Faverio

(2022, January 13). Share of those 65 and older who are tech users has grown in the past decade. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/13/share-of-those-65-and-older-who-are-tech-users-has-grown-in-the-past-decade/

12.

Ford

C. L.

Airhihenbuwa

C. O.

(2010). Critical race theory, race equity, and public health: Toward antiracism praxis. American Journal of Public Health, 100(Suppl 1), S30–S35. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.171058

13.

Hargittai

Dobransky

(2017). Old dogs, new clicks: Digital inequality in skills and uses among older adults. Canadian Journal of Communication, 42(2), 195–212. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2017v42n2a3176

14.

Hong

Y. A.

Cho

(2017). Has the digital health divide widened? Trends of health-related internet use among older adults from 2003 to 2011. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 72(5), 856–863. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbw100

15.

Ihm

Hsieh

Y. P.

(2015). The implications of information and communication technology use for the social well-being of older adults. Information, Communication & Society, 18(10), 1123–1138. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2015.1019912

16.

Kasper

J. D.

Freedman

V. A.

Spillman

B. C.

(2013). Classification of persons by dementia status in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS Technical Paper #5 ). Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. https://www.nhats.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/DementiaTechnicalPaperJuly_2_4_2013_10_23_15.pdf

17.

Lopez

M. H.

Gonzalez-Barrera

Patten

(2013). Closing the digital divide: Latinos and technology adoption. Pew Research Center’s Hispanic Trends Project; Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2013/03/07/closing-the-digital-divide-latinos-and-technology-adoption/

18.

Marin

Hampton

K. N.

(2007). Simplifying the personal network name generator: Alternatives to traditional multiple and single name generators. Field Methods, 19(2), 163–193. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X06298588

19.

Mitchell

U. A.

Chebli

P. G.

Ruggiero

Muramatsu

(2019). The digital divide in health-related technology use: The significance of race/ethnicity. The Gerontologist, 59(1), 6–14. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny138

20.

Mitchell

O. S.

Clark

R. L.

Lusardi

(2022). Income trajectories in later life: Longitudinal evidence from the Health and Retirement Study. The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, 22, 100371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100371

21.

Morales

L. S.

Lara

Kington

R. S.

Valdez

R. O.

Escarce

J. J.

(2002). Socioeconomic, cultural, and behavioral factors affecting Hispanic health outcomes. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, 13(4), 477–503. https://doi.org/10.1177/104920802237532

22.

National League of Cities . (2021). State of the digital divide in the hispanic community. https://www.nlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HELO-POLICY-BRIEF-1.pdf

23.

Perrin

Atske

(2021). 7% of Americans don’t use the Internet. Who are they? https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/04/02/7-of-americans-dont-use-the-internet-who-are-they/

24.

Perrin

Duggan

(2015, June 26). Americans’ Internet Access: 2000–2015. Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2015/06/26/americans-internet-access-2000-2015/

25.

Pew Research Center . (2019). Smartphone ownership is growing rapidly around the world, but not always equally. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/02/05/smartphone-ownership-is-growing-rapidly-around-the-world-but-not-always-equally/ (Accessed on 18 January 2024).

26.

Rodriguez-Elliott

Vachuska

(2023). Measuring the digital divide: A neighborhood-level analysis of racial inequality in internet speed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Societies, 13(4), 92. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13040092

27.

Suntai

Beltran

S. J.

(2023). The intersectional impact of race/ethnicity and sex on access to technology among older adults. The Gerontologist, 63(7), 1162–1171. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnac178

28.

Szabo

Allen

Stephens

Alpass

(2019). Longitudinal analysis of the relationship between purposes of internet use and well-being among older adults. The Gerontologist, 59(1), 58–68. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gny036

29.

Tappen

R. M.

Cooley

M. E.

Luckmann

Panday

(2022). Digital health information disparities in older adults: A mixed methods study. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 9(1), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-020-00931-3

30.

United Nations . (2020). International migration stock database. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/content/international-migrant-stock (Accessed on 20 January 2024).

31.

U. S. Government Accountability Office . (2022, August 11). Broadband: National strategy needed to guide federal efforts to reduce digital divide. U.S. GAO. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104611

32.

U. S. Census Bureau . (2018). Older people projected to outnumber children for first time in U.S. History. https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2018/cb18-41-population-projections.html

33.

Van Deursen

A. J.

Van Dijk

J. A.

(2019). The first-level digital divide shifts from inequalities in physical access to inequalities in material access. New Media & Society, 21(2), 354–375. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818797082

34.

Vogels

(2021). Digital divide persists even as Americans with lower incomes make gains in tech adoption. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/06/22/digital-divide-persists-even-as-americans-with-lower-incomes-make-gains-in-tech-adoption/

35.

World Bank . (2023). International telecommunication union ( ITU ) world telecommunication/ICT indicators database. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.USER.ZS (Accessed on 18 January 2024).

36.

Zheng

Walsham

(2021). Inequality of what? An intersectional approach to digital inequality under Covid-19. Information and Organization, 31(1), 100341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2021.100341

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.27 MB

Bridging the Access Gap: A Decade of Narrowing the Digital Divide for Hispanic Older Adults in the United States

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References

Supplementary Material