Reasoning & Evidence
Transportation options and infrastructure are vital to allow communities to travel to employment, health care, and essential services, however, mobile solutions can also bring those services directly to communities and individuals who might not be able to travel. Solutions like community paramedicine and mobile health clinics play a role in reducing the social isolation and loneliness that can be associated with illness; connecting communities to these services in their home can increase the comfort of their care and reduce the stigma of hospitalization that accompanies living with an illness.(37) Mobile health clinics can also serve to reduce health care disparities by traveling to traditionally, medically underserved areas that have limited access to healthcare due to factors such as race, ethnicity, poverty, and rurality.(38)
Similarly, services like mobile food pantries help to bring essential foods to communities living in food deserts or areas that lack access to healthy, nutritious, and affordable food, often concentrated in low-income or racially and ethnically minoritized neighborhoods.(39) One in nine people in the U.S. lack a consistent source of food necessary to lead an active and healthy lifestyle, and transit disadvantage can reinforce this inequity, especially in immigrant and senior populations.(40) Transit access and commute times can be a barrier for communities to access grocery stores, and mobile food pantries bring healthy options directly to communities, which can reduce the social inequity of food insecurity.(41) The American Library Association is also using transportation as a means to bring information and learning access to rural, urban, suburban, and Tribal areas through their Bookmobile program.
Examples of Community Implementation
Kansas, United States: The Kansas Home Visiting Program and The Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting programs serve multiple counties in Kansas to support expecting or new parents, promote healthy childhood development, and increase parenting knowledge and resources. These free programs make visits directly to the homes of parents who need support, which can reduce the socially isolating factor of having a new baby or a child with disabilities that may require attention. Program visitors can help with parenting advice, health equipment, health concerns, and education on local resources. A similar program, called Visiting Angels, is a nationwide program that operates in a similar manner, but with health and wellness care specifically for older adults.
Northeast Florida, United States: Baptist Health Cancer Center created the Buddy Bus Mobile Mammography clinic to increase access to breast cancer detection services across Northeast Florida. Organizations can request the bus to come to offices, events, or venues to provide 3D screening mammograms, which are read on site by breast radiologists. This program aids in reducing the breast cancer mortality disparity among individuals of color who have breasts.
Reference: The SOCIAL Framework: The Transportation Supplemental Brief
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