Exploring the Digital Divide among the Bhutanese Refugee Community during COVID-19: Engaged Research in Action

Jeffrey H. Cohen (), Arati Maleku, Sudarshan Pyakurel, Taku Suzuki, Shambika Raut and Francisco Alejandro Montiel Ishino
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Jeffrey H. Cohen: Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Arati Maleku: College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Sudarshan Pyakurel: The Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio, Columbus, OH 43229, USA
Taku Suzuki: International Studies, Denison University, Granville, OH 43023, USA
Shambika Raut: College of Social Work, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
Francisco Alejandro Montiel Ishino: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: The digital divide proved a critical barrier to accessing information and healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and negatively impacted the Bhutanese refugee community. Moving beyond a technological model of the digital divide that highlights a lack of access to computers and the internet, we engaged the community to co-produce a dynamic approach that identifies the impact of socio-cultural and socio-environmental factors as well. Our paper reports on our community-academic research partnership and explores how the digital divide exacerbates health disparities in a midwestern Bhutanese refugee community. Combining the efforts of the community, anthropologists and social workers, this paper reports on the health disparities that confront the community as well as interventions designed to mitigate social inequities.

Keywords: digital divide; Bhutanese refugees; health inequalities; engaged community research; COVID-19; mixed-methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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