In partnership with DOH, DH hosted a community conversation about transportation needs on March 17. Transportation is an important topic among community partners, as many communities face transit-related barriers to COVID-19 vaccination. During the community conversation, we discussed transportation terminology and resources and heard from community partners about their experience navigating transportation needs on behalf of their community. Consult the list below for more insight into what we heard from those in attendance:
Key Themes We Heard
- Specialty services and providers with intersectional expertise are limited, so people often must travel long distances to receive specialized care.
- Mobile, in-home vaccinations and testing are going well and have been essential services.
- Telehealth is a useful emerging resource; however, improving internet access in rural areas is critical.
- The broader community needs to understand that limited transit resources and limited access to those services marginalizes community members who rely on transportation.
- Gas cards are helpful and enable community members and organizers to support healthcare accessibility.
Challenges and Barriers
- In some areas, transportation service providers may not require employees to be vaccinated, which puts community members at higher risk.
- Medical non-emergency services lack reliability, even in non-pandemic times.
- Language and economics are major barriers to accessing transportation resources.
- Food security is affected by transportation barriers, which further contributes to poor health.
Resources
For more insight into the conversation, access the recording, slides and transcript of the presentation portion of this conversation here. Additionally, explore this Dropbox folder for transportation-related assets. Finally, as DH and DOH continue the conversation around transit-related barriers, expect to find transportation-related resources in the community partner newsletter throughout the Winter/Spring 2022 contracting period.