Pandemic highlights need for improvements in rural internet infrastructure

The NLM G08 team recently published an op-ed in the Journal of the Medical Library Association to draw attention to the need for massively improved rural internet access for migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers, who are essential workers in the coronavirus global public health emergency, face unique risks to their health as well as longstanding health inequities. This commentary highlights these risks and argues that Internet access represents an underappreciated but critical part of the public health response. The authors first discuss the unique risk farmworkers face. We note the importance of Internet access in the time of physical distancing, the fact that many health outreach workers are no longer visiting camps, the need for telemedicine infrastructure, and the role of Internet access in providing connections to families in communities of origin. We describe existing efforts that have been implemented in North Carolina to raise awareness among public health and health promotion practitioners and researchers. The current coronavirus pandemic demands the attention of medical libraries, public health practitioners, and policy makers to address the digital divide for farmworkers and their families.

Full article here: https://jmla.mlanet.org/ojs/jmla/article/view/1045