SAMHSA: Digital Access - A Super Determinant of Health
Publication Date: Mar 22, 2023
Internet access is increasingly recognized as a “super determinant” of health. It plays a role in health care outcomes and influences more traditionally recognized social determinants of health, such as education, employment, and healthcare access. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that 19 million people in the United States lack access to reliable broadband service, also known as reliable high-speed internet. This phenomenon is known as the digital divide and has focused on rural areas and “pockets of segregated urban areas [that] are also disconnected”.