Regine Villarmea
While society rejoices at the prospect of leaving the nightmare of COVID-19 far in the past, the large population of homeless individuals have already been left behind. And while we enjoy the easy accessibility of information and updates through social media devices that leave the world at our hands, the gap between the homeless population and accurate world news is more than just one click away. More actions must be taken to include this population of individuals in the mainstream to ensure that they receive fair treatment, especially for the deadly COVID-19 disease that has taken over our world. Society as a whole must provide support for programs that seek to bridge these wide technology and information gaps between the vulnerable and the privileged, using various strategies to combat such rampant discrepancies.
It’s crucial to recognize the importance of making technology more accessible for a population already so neglected. Many homeless individuals have underlying, hidden health conditions that make the risk of virus contraction much greater. Heightened by the lack of access to healthcare, these individuals are the most vulnerable to obtaining and spreading the virus to others, because they fail to realize that they’re even doing it. What further perpetuates this is the congregate lifestyle that defines their day-to-day. A nomadic life built on community living as a means of survival often places these populations in unsanitary conditions, where the virus can spread much easier. All of this is heightened by the overwhelming lack of information. Any facts on the world’s current state of affairs are often received by mouth or through just a short glimpse of the news. While the blatant disregard for this population of people has been around for generations, the current COVID-19 pandemic only provides a new challenge that highlights the faults of these discrepancies.”
When asked about the current state of affairs back in 2020, one homeless individual was unable to even name the virus. Too many individuals remain apathetic about providing crucial information to a crucial population, even though “...many of these people are sick, many are elderly, some are purposely staying in the shadows because of their immigration status, and a third have serious mental illness such as schizophrenia and paranoia that can make reasoning with them difficult… because of their living conditions, [they] are seen as crucial links in the spread of a pathogen that has the potential to overwhelm the country’s hospital capacity.” Again, this only proves once more how significant it is to provide the homeless population with the care and information they need to combat the virus and contribute to diminishing rapidly growing mortality rates. These individuals should not have to get their information from strangers on the street. They deserve the same accessibility that the majority is able to easily access at their own convenience.
It’s important to come together as a collective society to support and help develop programs that aim to ease the spread of information and consequently, make treatment more accessible. Luckily, there are already plans in action to ease this knowledge gap. All we must do as the general public is offer our support and consistently seek ways to help. One particular study highlights four large-scale steps required to initiate change: increased accessibility, technological literacy, determining the accurate from the inaccurate, and economic disparities.
First, the information gap created by a lack of access to technology can be reduced. While the entire world went virtual, the barrier between the homeless and the rest of the world simply grew. One plan to help eradicate such discrepancies includes multiple partnerships between major cities and technology providers to distribute donated technology like tablets to populations in dire need. For example, “the Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA:RISE) recently published the LA:RISE Nonprofit Technology Resources Guide (2020), which includes valuable information about corporate entities giving product donations and grants, technology funding and grant opportunities, and technology assistance resources. In addition, some cities in Los Angeles County, such as Santa Monica and Pasadena, offer free public Wi-Fi (Melvoin, 2020) and it is also available in certain areas of the City of Los Angeles.” The generosity and support of such programs are the needed catalyst for increasing accessibility to information through technology. This strategy is beneficial to multiple parties, even those that are not homeless yet still underprivileged. The more support that these partnerships and strategies garner, the easier it will be to provide vulnerable populations with the resources they need to stay up to date. By offering such support, we are decreasing the distance between the current state of affairs and an end to worldwide madness.
Secondly, the study highlights the importance of teaching and knowledge of resource navigation. Programs put in place to perpetuate this include curricula set to help individuals learn how to “navigate digital health options, such as the Digital Opportunities for Outcomes in Recovery Services training (Hoffman et al., 2020). Providers might find such programs useful for many client groups that could require extra support to use technology.” While this is just one example of a developing program that aims to eradicate the barricade of knowledge limitation, more technology literacy programs are developing every day, such as the iDiversity program built by UMD iSchool Students and the Wayside Christian Mission. The importance of such programs should not be undermined, because the accessibility to resources can not exist without the knowledge of how to use them. As these programs continue to develop with the end goal of benefiting as many homeless populations as possible, further support can only enhance their success.
In addition to accessibility and knowledge, the third step is awareness. Steps must be taken to continue educating the homeless on deciphering accurate information from inaccurate information, such as how the virus spreads and how to limit this spread. While this constantly changes, a consequence of new research discoveries that happen almost daily, the homeless population is always last to know about such changes. The study states that many homeless individuals “have misperceptions about the virus, and others have difficulty discerning which sources of information are accurate… Some provider organizations described existing efforts to provide psychoeducation about the virus and safety procedures, and these organizations are well-positioned to continue to serve as a source of reliable and accurate information for clients.” Organizations need to be given more funding and support not only to help provide such populations with accurate information, but also with recognizing that it is in fact accurate. One example of such a provider is the HUD’s Office of Special Needs Assistance Programs (SNAPS), where public health authorities and homeless service systems partner up to build an awareness on which information is from reliable sources like health care officials.
Lastly, the study addresses the importance of acknowledging equity issues when closing the technology gap for the homeless. COVID-19 and the pandemic “is creating disproportionate impacts that will likely widen over time. There are concrete steps that county agencies, community-based organizations, and communities can take to address this concern. Such steps can include engaging individuals with lived experience in pandemic response planning and ensuring collaborative planning among the many systems serving these individuals (National Alliance to End Homelessness et al., 2020).” Devoting more attention to pandemic response preparation and collaborative planning can contribute to the eradication of such problems before they even begin. The homeless population was never a priority before the pandemic, and even during, they’re still overwhelmingly neglected. By developing a greater awareness on the importance of tending to the needs of high-risk populations and recognizing the staggering discrepancies, society can find its common ground in shared humanity.
Though the future may seem bleak, new information and research has shown the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations for homeless populations is growing.This means that information is gradually being spread and such populations are beginning to build an awareness of the deadly virus’s threats. The Washington Post states Canada as an example, where homeless individuals have begun to receive vaccinations. Such populations have even expressed their acknowledgement of being the most neglected and vulnerable to the virus, and their gratitude in the steps to change this mindset. coronavirus.” While Detroit is referenced to follow suit, the lack of coverage on if other American states have continued to do the same for their homeless populations is worrying. The homeless population needs to be made a priority in receiving information, digital literacy, and assistance. Once the populations at highest risk can contribute to immunization rates, the rest of the world will be able to follow suit.
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