Health benefits and barriers to cell phone use in low-income urban US neighborhoods: Indications of technology maintenance
Health benefits and barriers to cell phone use in low-income urban US neighborhoods: Indications of technology maintenance
复制标题
DOI：
10.1177/2050157914530297
复制
发表时间：
2014-09-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Gonzales, Amy L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Gonzales, Amy L.
人们对手机对美国穷人的日常健康和安全益处知之甚少，尽管这一人群患病和接触犯罪的风险增加。对低收入的美国城市居民的采访表明，手机是心理安慰、预防犯罪和获得紧急帮助的重要手段。与此同时，调查结果显示，这些居民的手机经常坏掉，需要不断维修或技术维护。对二手手机、政府手机和无合约手机的依赖缓解了手机的拥有，但也使间歇性断网正常化，导致依赖性不稳定。这些发现表明了贫困社区居民使用手机的极端价值，同时表明手机使用的差距仍然存在，而且可能正在恶化。
Little is known about the everyday health and safety benefits of cell phones for the U.S. poor, despite heightened risks of illness and exposure to crime for this population. Interviews with low-income, urban U.S. residents reveal that cell phones are an asset for psychological reassurance, crime prevention, and critical access to emergency help. At the same time findings reveal that these residents often have broken and disconnected cell phones that require constant upkeep, or technology maintenance. Reliance on second-hand, government, and no-contract phones ease cell phone ownership but also normalize intermittent disconnection leading to dependably instability. These findings demonstrate the extreme value of cell phone access for residents of poor neighborhoods, and at the same time indicate that disparities in cell phone access still persist and may be worsening.