Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2023 - 27

MOBILE HEALTH / FEATURE
serve-whether it be a dental clinic or
asthma center, a vision clinic or primary
care unit. Some children's hospitals
and health systems offer broad services
across a large geography while others
focus on a highly specific service in
a specific area.
In Chicago, where youth asthma
rates are among the highest in the
country, Ann & Robert H. Lurie
Children's Hospital of Chicago offers
pulmonary services out of a converted
ambulance, visiting areas where patients
have high readmission rates in
the ED for asthma. " At our first asthma
clinic, we had a mother that cried, just
busted into tears. She has multiple
children, and it was hard for her to
get her child to downtown Chicago
by public transportation, " says
Jacinta Staples, M.S.N, RN, director
of Community Clinic Collaborations
at the Patrick M. Magoon Institute
for Healthy Communities at Lurie
Children's. " For our mobile clinic to
be five minutes from where she lives,
she was so excited that her child could
finally be seen. " They also provide immunizations,
sports physicals, and
well-child services at schools, which
students need to remain in school but
often have difficulty keeping up with.
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
in Memphis serves rural patients
whose main challenge is overcoming
distance to pediatricians. " Some of
our kids live so far away from quality
care. And areas in West Tennessee
have health care provider shortages, "
says Cindy Hogg, director of Health
Services
for Community Outreach
at Le Bonheur Children's. " Kids go
years without seeing a pediatrician,
and we often uncover symptoms that
have led to a chronic disease that the
child and parent aren't even aware of. "
After learning that a lot of children
were missing their annual well-child
visits due to transportation issues,
Le Bonheur Children's began partnerships
with school systems in eight
rural counties where they could make
sure to see the majority of the rural
child population with their mobile
clinic, focusing on the uninsured and
underinsured. They also discovered
a lack of nutrition literacy and developed
a health education program that
A CLOSER LOOK
Barriers to care
* Lack of transportation
* Geographic location
* Insurance status
* Legal status
* Financial costs
* Language and cultural
differences
* Lack of health care
providers
* Perceived absence of
patient-centered care
* Psychological barriers
* Intimidation of the health
care setting
* Hours of operation
* Anonymity concern
Source: " The scope and impact of mobile
health clinics in the United States: a
literature review. " Yu et al. International
Journal for Equity in Health (2017).
Texas Children's
first mobile unit
was donated by
the Junior League
of Houston.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Winter 2023
27
Children's Hospitals Today - Winter 2023

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