The mobile health clinics, a mobile version of the VA Vet Centers, will help offer mental healthcare access amid national social distancing protocol.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is utilizing mobile health clinics as part of its efforts to expand mental healthcare access, drive care coordination, and offer referral to other VA health options.
This comes as parts of the nation reach the height of the coronavirus pandemic and healthcare resources are scarce. The VA mobile mental health clinics, or Mobile Vet Centers, will make it easier for veterans with mental health concerns or who are experiencing extreme isolation during social distancing to receive help.
“While all Americans are being instructed to limit their contact with others, our duty to protect the nation’s Veterans has not ended,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Our Vet Center staff will help ensure we keep in contact with those Veterans who need our care and attention and help reduce the anxiety some may be experiencing during this unique national emergency.”
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Mobile health clinics are almost exactly as they sound. Clinics are hosted in large vans or buses that contain a plethora of tech-enabled health tools, and then they park themselves in community areas to usually connect to with a marginalized population of patients.
Mobile health clinics are often found in church parking lots, at area food banks, or near other social services organizations in order to reach high-risk but hard-to-reach populations.
And now, they are being tapped by the VA to help reach veterans who might be struggling with mental health diagnoses while the nation is social distancing.
The VA mobile health clinics have largely been deployed in hot spots for the virus, including in New York, New Orleans, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The Mobile Vet Centers offer a supplement to the nearly 300 brick-and-mortar Vet Center locations across the United States.
Although the physical VA Vet Centers are still open across the country, the VA said the move to offer mobile options will be essential for veterans who otherwise would not feel empowered to seek the help they need.
The Centers are staffed by volunteers who often deploy on these kinds of missions in the wake of natural disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes, wildfires, or mass shootings.
“In times like this it’s important to stand shoulder to shoulder with our local communities, support their local needs and ensure them they are not alone in navigating this crisis,” said Brooklyn Vet Center Director Gabe Botero, who volunteered for five days in New York City.
These mobile health clinics and Vet Centers have been in operation since March 16, and VA said they could remain open as the pandemic runs its course.
These efforts come as healthcare turns its gaze toward underserved and hard-to-reach patient populations amid the coronavirus outbreak. The virus spread has exacerbated key social determinants of health, including healthcare access, and has shone a light on health disparities hampering care for marginalized populations.
In response, some healthcare organizations are going the route of the VA, using community outreach to connect with hard-to-reach patients. Through grant work, many healthcare benefactors have donated to homeless shelters, ensuring this high-risk population has someplace safe to go while the nation heeds calls for social distancing.
Community health workers and experts in public health messaging and outreach are also playing an instrumental role in making sure populations understand the risk factors and best practices associated with the coronavirus. Putting educational materials in multiple languages other than English and reaching out to immigrant communities has proven essential.
As the nation begins a new month of social distancing, questions about access to mental healthcare are beginning to crop up. Social distancing may exacerbate existing mental health issues or awaken issues due to extreme social isolation.
This mobile health clinic and Vet Center offering from the VA is a step forward in driving access to mental healthcare.
Source: PatientEngagement HIT