Carmen Gonzalez

Community Variations in Low-Income Latino Families’ Technology Adoption and Integration

Constrained access to the Internet and new communication technologies is commonly associated with social disparities related to income, education, immigration status, age, and geography. Policymakers in many sectors—and particularly, in education—have placed their bets on increased technology access having the potential to mitigate broader social disparities. In the context of a national digital equity initiative, this study examines how parents and children of low-income Latino families incorporate new technologies into their everyday lives. Through a comparison of three demographically similar communities where discounted broadband is being offered to low-income families with school-age children, we take a bottom-up, communication-centered perspective on a top-down technology policy. Our ecological approach considers the intersection of macro- and meso-level factors that influence Latino families’ perceptions of technology and that shape their consequent adoption and integration decisions.

Applications of Communication Infrastructure Theory

Communication infrastructure theory (CIT) offers a unique perspective on communication and health by investigating how neighborhood communication patterns are intertwined with the health of communities and their residents. Developed by Ball-Rokeach and colleagues, CIT proposes that neighborhoods have unique multilevel communication infrastructures that impact the capacity for resident health (Kim & Ball-Rokeach, 2006). These communication structures, known as storytelling networks (STNs), consist of three key players: community organizations and local/ethnic media (constituting the meso-level), and neighborhood residents (constituting the micro-level). The strength of a STN is affected by the communication action context in which it operates, consisting of neighborhood factors that can facilitate or impede communication, such as street safety, presence of meeting and greeting places, and quality of local services. When a communication action context facilitates a strong neighborhood STN, positive health outcomes are

An Argument for Ecological Research and Intervention in Health Communication

An Argument for Ecological Research and Intervention in Health Communication Meghan Bridgid Moran, Lauren B. Frank, Nan Zhao, Carmen Gonzalez, Prawit Thainiyom, Sheila T. Murphy & Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach To cite this article: Meghan Bridgid Moran, Lauren B. Frank, Nan Zhao, Carmen Gonzalez, Prawit Thainiyom, Sheila T. Murphy & Sandra J. Ball-Rokeach (2016) An Argument for Ecological Research and Intervention in Health Communication, Journal of Health Communication, 21:2, 135-138 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10810730.2015.1128021

Connecting with technology in lower-income US families:

Digital equity initiatives traditionally enable access to devices and Internet service, but increasingly, designers are also recognizing the importance of access to people and programs that support digital skills development. Families in under-served communities are most likely to need such supports but least likely to have them available. We explore the extent to which parents and children might serve as these sources of support for each other in low- and lower-middle-income families, who have seldom been the focus of research on children, families, and technology. We examine how sociodemographic factors and parents’ own technology use relate to patterns in how parents and children guide each other’s technology experiences. We then explore how siblings’ collaborative experiences are influenced by the extent to which inter-generational technology practices are either parent- or child-driven. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for strengthening digital equity initiatives targeting school-age children and their families.

Equity & Inclusivity at IDC

In this one-day workshop, we aim to bring together a community of researchers at the Interaction Design and Children (IDC) conference who will share how they already make or plan to make equity-promoting fairness by allocating more resources and opportunities to those who need it? and inclusivity? the inclusion and meaningful participation of people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized? foundational to their research with children and families. By discussing theoretical and practice-based approaches, providing feedback on each others research, and collectively identifying concerns and challenges in addressing equity and inclusivity when doing and assessing research in IDC, we intend to do twofold. First, we will build our understanding of how our approaches, designs, and/or methods may either be restricting or facilitating equitable access and participation of diverse children and their families. Second, we will work to establish and articulate approaches to our research that forefront equity and inclusivity, taking into account how intersecting identities affect how the children and families with whom we work have or do not have access to various sources of power.

Evaluating Health Storytelling in Spanish-Language Television from a Communication Infrastructure Theory Perspective

Latinos are at high risk for many health problems, yet they are often missed by traditional health communication campaigns that tend to deploy messages through general audience channels. New immigrant Latinos living in Los Angeles indicate a strong connection to Spanish-language television for health and medical information, but the quantity and quality of health information provided through such programming has not been systematically evaluated. Grounded in communication infrastructure theory, a content analysis of Spanish-language television news and talk shows was conducted to examine the nature of health coverage. As a primary health source for the Los Angeles Latino community, Spanish-language television could serve an important role in helping Latinos overcome health disparities by connecting them to a health storytelling network. However, findings show that the programs analyzed do not adequately connect viewers to other health storytellers or personalize information in such a way that may prompt interpersonal discussion and the dissemination of health information.

Mobile Voices: Design as a method to explore the possibilities and limitations of community participation:

Despite the growing significance of mobile devices, especially among marginalized communities, there are few explorations of how participatory design (PD) can be applied to mobile communication technologies. This case study of Mobile Voices (VozMob) explores a community-based approach to PD and its potential to promote the participation of groups typically marginalized from the design process, and to empower users. VozMob is a mobile platform that was codesigned with and for immigrant workers and organizers to facilitate the online publishing of multimedia stories about their lives and their social justice efforts. Through collective visualization methods, observation, and interviews, this study investigates the factors that enabled or hindered meaningful user participation in the VozMob design process. Significant differences emerged between participants’ experiences of the design process, which allow for the exploration of themes related to technology appropriation, design ownership, and power sharing in collaborative processes. Our findings reveal that a community-based approach to PD can shed light on the degree to which—and how—collaborative design and equitable participation is possible through mobile media.

Digital Inequality and Developmental Trajectories of Low-income, Immigrant, and Minority Children

Children growing up in the United States today are more ethnically and racially diverse than at any time in the nation’s history. Because of rising income inequality, almost half of the 72 million children in the United States are also growing up in low-income families, with immigrant and children of color disproportionately likely to be within their ranks. Children in low-income households are more likely to face a number of social challenges, including constrained access to the Internet and devices that connect to it (ie, digital inequality), which can exacerbate other, more entrenched disparities between them and their more privileged counterparts. Although the American Academy of Pediatrics’ new guidelines encourage clinicians to reduce children’s overexposure to technology, we argue for a more nuanced approach that also considers how digital inequality can reduce low-income children’s access to a range of social opportunities. We review previous research on how digital inequality affects children’s learning and development and identify areas where more research is needed on how digital inequality relates to specific aspects of children’s developmental trajectories, and to identify what interventions at the family, school, and community levels can mitigate the adverse effects of digital inequality as children move through their formal schooling. On the basis of the evidence to date, we conclude with guidelines for clinicians related to supporting digital connectivity and more equitable access to social opportunity for the increasingly diverse population of children growing up in the United States.

Bringing local voices into community revitalization: engaged communication research in Urban planning

ABSTRACT The need to better engage low-income communities affected by revitalization of the built environment has been well documented in urban planning. Guided by communication infrastructure theory (CIT), this study presents a research project that made concerted efforts at engaging neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles that are experiencing rapid gentrification. The project was a partnership with a multi-sector collaborative working on the revitalization of the L.A. River and its surrounding communities. This paper specifically demonstrates how CITs social ecological orientation was applied to seek input on L.A. River and community revitalization from storytelling networks made up of residents, small businesses, and local media. We also examine the impact of this engaged research on the organizational partners of the collaborative, and their views on community engagement in revitalization. Lastly, we discuss how the lessons learned broadly speak to future opportunities and challenges that aim for communicative planning approaches to urban revitalization.