February 25, 2021
COVID-19 has severely impacted the ability of vulnerable populations to access critical services and resources. Vulnerable populations face a number of risks and challenges when traveling during COVID-19 including increased exposure to COVID-19, less frequent public transit service, and unreliable paratransit and non-emergency medical transportation services. This webinar will discuss critical transportation challenges facing vulnerable populations through two research projects from the UC Institute of Transportation Studies, including one project examining healthcare access challenges and another project assessing how the mobility of older adults has changed during COVID. These projects offer key insights on compounding inequalities, opportunities in telehealth, and the feasibility of alternative transportation services. Researchers will also offer key policy insights that can drive more equitable transportation services and access for vulnerable populations.
Associated Resources:
Transportation Access to Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Trends and Implications for Significant Patient Populations and Health Care Needs - https://www.ucits.org/research-project/2021-11/
The Impact of COVID-19 on the Mobility Needs of an Aging Population in Contra Costa County - https://www.ucits.org/research-project/2020-32/
Bios:
Dr. Ragland is the founding director of SafeTREC and an Adjunct Professor Emeritus of Epidemiology at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Dr. Ragland is also actively involved in the traffic safety efforts of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and served as a top-level adviser on California’s State Highway Safety Plan (SHSP) and the Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) mandated 5 Percent report for the Highway Safety Implementation Plan, as mandated by the federal government. Highlights of his recent work include geocoding of collisions on California roadways, a study of High Collision Concentration Locations on California highways, many studies of pedestrian and bicyclist safety, studies of roadway design, driver behavior and vulnerable populations. Recent work has included projects to assess and reduce traffic injury on California’s Tribal Areas. He has authored more than 100 technical reports and peer-reviewed publications in the traffic safety arena.
Katherine L. Chen, MD, is an internal medicine physician and postdoctoral fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research explores equity issues at the intersection of policy, planning, and population health, focusing on ways to reduce health disparities through policies that shape affordable housing, transportation, and neighborhood environments. Recent projects have examined health outcomes among people displaced in California’s affordable housing crisis, the impact of gentrification on hypertension and diabetes control in Los Angeles, transportation access to health care during the COVID-19 pandemic, and nonprofit hospitals’ engagement with local housing needs. Dr. Chen completed her M.D. at UCLA and her B.A. in biology at Yale University. As a postdoctoral fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at UCLA, she is currently pursuing a PhD in Health Policy & Management. She practices primary care and supervises resident physicians at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Los Angeles.
Dr. David Ragland, PhD, MPH
Dr. Katherine Chen, MD