(P26) Mapping the Digital Divide: Broadband Access for Congregate Care Communities

Introduction/Objective: The COVID-19 public health emergency increased interest in telehealth. Telehealth can enable delivery of timely, quality healthcare to medically vulnerable individuals served by congregate care communities (CCC) like skilled nursing facilities (SNF), long-term care facilities (LTCF) and assisted living facilities (ALF). There is not consistent access to broadband internet to support telehealth programs for medically vulnerable people living in CCC in Virginia. We must have data-driven targeted interventions.

Design/Methodology : We conducted an ecologic study using broadband data from the American Community Survey from 2018-2020 and congregate care/living facilities from the Virginia Department of Social Services and Virginia Health Care Association in 2023. We calculated descriptive statistics in SAS and mapped the data using Tableau.

Results: The percentage of households with broadband internet connection by Virginia locality ranges from 62%-97%. One third of localities have no CCC. The number of CCC per locality ranges from zero to 105. Twenty-three localities have lower levels of broadband access ( < 75%). There are 46 facilities in these areas.

Conclusion/Discussion : When available, telehealth is a tool that can increase access to care. Conversely, telehealth may also increase barriers to care and further limit access in rural communities due to the digital divide. Determining how to best utilize telehealth in CCC is an urgent need. These areas of greatest need can serve as a tool for internet companies and policy makers to target geographic regions for which increased broadband access could have the highest impact for medically vulnerable people living in CCC throughout Virginia.