Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution
E-monitoring in the workplace: privacy, legislation, and surveillance software
Communications of the ACM - Music information retrieval
The portable community: envisioning and examining mobile social connectedness
International Journal of Web Based Communities
Computers in Human Behavior
Factors relating to computer use for people with mental illness
EHAWC'07 Proceedings of the 2007 international conference on Ergonomics and health aspects of work with computers
Cyber patients surfing the medical web: Computer-mediated medical knowledge and perceived benefits
Computers in Human Behavior
Proceedings of the 2012 iConference
We are visible: technology-mediated social participation in a Twitter network for the homeless
Proceedings of the 2012 iConference
e-government legislation meets the poverty threshold: issues for the economically disadvantaged
Proceedings of the 13th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research
Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Communities and Technologies
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Although physical health, mental health, and substance use problems are disproportionately high among the homeless, those with greater access to their social support systems report better outcomes than others. Communication with loved ones can be challenging for this population because of lack of access to telephone landlines. Computer technology may be an alternative medium for this population to access their social support systems, which, in turn, could lead toward better health outcomes. This exploratory study examined the computer use of 100 unsheltered homeless men and women in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Participants were interviewed using the Homeless Supplement to the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, a technology use module created for this investigation, and the substance use and psychiatric sections of the Addiction Severity Index. Almost half (47%) of the sample reported computer use in the past 30days (averaging 17.67h and 30days). Participants used computers to maintain their sense of social connectedness, for business purposes (job and housing searches), and for leisure. Computer technology could be used to disseminate information, prevent, screen, and treat many conditions, and collect data with this difficult-to-reach population. This technology has the potential to increase access to much needed services at a relatively low cost.