As a medical case manager intern at a managed health care facility, I saw first-hand the critical nature of transportation. But the transportation problem affected not only my clients, but also family members. Many of us take it for granted that if we became hospitalized, our loved ones would come to visit and see us through to good health. Such is not always the case. A patient's support structure, we found, was a key to their recovery.
Family members can provide significant emotional and psychological support.
Transportation barriers, thus, isolated many individuals and became an impediment to recovery. We were reminded daily about the impact of isolation. I recall a welfare mother who needed to get to the hospital to see her three month old baby, but could not afford a taxi and no bus or public transportation served the area. Imagine not being able to visit with and comfort a sick child. Another time, an elderly woman was unable to visit with her sick husband because she could neither drive nor afford cab fare.