Transportation Barriers to Vision Care for the Visually Impaired

Concerns about or problems with transportation acutely affect the large and growing population of people in the US living with visual impairments, who have been shown in previous studies to lack adequate transportation which keeps them from receiving low vision rehabilitation and other specialized care. This research will take a multi-fold approach to understanding safety concerns that pose transportation barriers to health care among Nebraska residents with visual impairments, focusing on those living in rural areas. For one research thrust, the project team will conduct in-depth, semi-structured interviews with patients seeking care at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s (UNMC's) Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation, which operates a main clinic in Omaha and satellite clinics in Lincoln and Hastings—the latter intended to serve people living in rural and small urban areas in central and western Nebraska. Interview data will shed light on transportation safety and access concerns facing patients as well as on the prevalence and nature of transport barriers to low vision care. For another research thrust, the project team, working with University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL) and UNMC partners, will explore potential strategies for addressing transportation barriers, such as deploying innovative, integrated non-emergency medical transportation services; coordinating patient transportation; providing travel training or information on alternative transportation services at points of care; and offering telerehabilitation. This cross-cutting research, with implications for policymaking and practice in transportation and medicine, will advance understanding of transportation barriers facing rural residents with visual impairments and assess strategies to address these barriers.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $170004
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348307

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Mid-America Transportation Center

  University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  2200 Vine Street, PO Box 830851
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68583-0851
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Nebraska, Lincoln

  1400 R Street
  Lincoln, NE  United States  68588
• Principal Investigators:

  Cochran, Abigail L

  Hawkins, Jason

  Tang, Zhenghong

  Nam, Yunwoo

• Start Date: 20230601
• Expected Completion Date: 20240731
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Access; Health care; Medical trips; Rural areas; Transportation disadvantaged persons; Visually impaired persons
• Geographic Terms: Nebraska
• Subject Areas: Passenger Transportation; Policy; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01908403
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Mid-America Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348307
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 19 2024 6:28PM