Mobile Clinics Can Provide Equity in the Defense against COVID-19

Mobile Clinics Can Provide Equity in the Defense against COVID-19

4 years ago
Anonymous $9CO2RSACsf

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/mobile-clinics-can-provide-equity-in-the-defense-against-covid-19/

Every week, a maroon-and-lime-tinted truck parks in some of Boston’s most underserved communities. The truck is a mobile health clinic called the Family Van. It sits curbside, doors open, with staff ready to provide free health services, screening and health education to anyone who needs it. The Family Van has been doing this for more than 28 years—and in that time, it has reached patients who are often missed by our health care systems: the uninsured, underinsured and undocumented, vulnerable groups that the United Nations secretary-general has warned must not be left behind in our COVID-19 response.

The Family Van is one of many mobile health clinics that work closely with marginalized communities. The United States currently has an estimated 2,000 mobile health clinics that receive 6.5 million visits annually; 60 percent of those patients are uninsured and 31 percent publicly insured (Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP). As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to grow, urgent questions remain on how to best support these communities: what happens to individuals in rural areas who don’t live near a hospital? How do we support older Americans, many of whom are food-insecure? How do we arm vulnerable groups with facts and up-to-date information in order to help combat COVID-19 misinformation?