Why mobility is a foundation of Rural Health:
The term mobility is defined as "the ability to move or be moved freely and easily" (source: English Oxford Living Dictionaries). Most are familiar with the term "upward mobility" often used to describe the process of improving an individual or family's economic status. The word mobility is also used in the context of describing an individual's physical movement challenges or limitations. More recently the transportation sector has introduced the concept of "mobility management" to describe an array of services and strategies that consider the unique transportation (mobility) needs of individuals.
Improved mobility and affordable transportation options help position rural residents for better health by improving access to healthy food, health care services, education, employment, and social connections.
Transportation expenses are often the second highest expense to individuals and families after housing. In some low income rural households transportation can be the highest expense due to the cost of owning and maintaining a vehicle and high operating expenses due to long distances travelling to employment, etc.
Rural Health Network's Mobility Management program has been helping improve the mobility of rural people in our region since 2011.
Read my full article for more about mobility challenges in our area, our current projects and projects in development.
-Jack Salo
Executive Director
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