Replace the “I” in illness with “we,” and you get wellness. Many people, including low-income individuals and the elderly, have trouble receiving the health care they deserve. Health improves with better access to care services; these are different ways to make health care more accessible to everyone.
Team Up With Retail Clinics
Trips to the emergency room are costly and time-consuming. It’s not a place you want to visit for a minor health concern. Retail stores are rapidly adding walk-in clinics and providing less expensive alternatives to the emergency room.
Walgreens, CVS, Kroger, and Target are a few retailers in the business of helping make health care more accessible for everyone. You don’t need an appointment at these clinics, and most have nurse practitioners and physician assistants on staff.
Co-Host or Partner With Pop-Up Clinics
Pop-up clinics attempt to connect patients needing immediate health care with services that frequently use preventative and disease management approaches. Pop-up clinics rely on volunteers to provide care. This care ranges from condition-specific treatment to preventive screenings. Clinics can see many patients quickly for little to no cost.
These clinics make a difference in the lives of uninsured individuals by providing quality care and connecting patients to services that help them manage their future health care.
Use Mobile Clinics
Mobile clinics provide many services, including dental, primary care, and preventative care. They utilize buses, vans, trucks, or trailers filled with the necessary equipment and technology to provide health care to underserved areas, such as those in urban and rural spaces.
Mobile medical trailers are improving healthcare in less privileged communities. Mobile clinics allow for flexibility, reduce costs, and can quickly change locations to meet patients where they are. They save individuals money and time, meaning patients are more likely to seek out and receive the health care they need and deserve.
Healthcare professionals should always search for ways to serve the community better. These different ways to make health care more accessible are a start. Go out and help the people who need it most.
Christina Duron is a writer living in the Chicagoland area. Her passion for writing and health helps create thought-provoking and engaging pieces and hopes to use them to empower readers to play a more active role in their personal healthcare journey.