Making stability dependable: stable cellphone access leads to better health outcomes for those experiencing poverty

ABSTRACT

The technology maintenance framework argues that digital access is unreliable and thus consequential for individual/social welfare. However, no one has demonstrated a causal effect of cell phone access on health and well-being. Using a 7-month longitudinal field experiment we investigated how stable cellphone access impacts health and quality of life of people experiencing poverty (N = 45, median annual income = $7,216). Participants received phone cards providing unlimited talk, text, and data (n = 23) or were given grocery store gift cards of the equivalent amount (n = 22). Over the course of the experiment, participants in the treatment group reported better health and quality of life compared to those in the control group. Emotional social support moderated this relationship in such a way that those with the least social support benefited the most from stable cellphone access (supporting a ‘poor-get-richer’ hypothesis). We present practical and theoretical implications in the discussion.

KEYWORDS:

• Technology maintenance
• ICTs
• computer-mediated-communication
• digital divide
• mobile technology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This publication was supported by IU Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute NIH/NCRR Grant Number UL1TR001108. Health and Well-being Implications of Internet and Cell Phone Disconnection.