Barriers to Accessing Health Care in Rural NC
North Carolinians living in rural communities often face barriers to accessing crucial health care services, including long travel times and limited provider availability. Statewide shortages of primary medical care, dental, and mental health providers further exacerbate this issue. Of the 100 counties across North Carolina, 93 are designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) for primary care, 97 for mental health, and 93 for dental health (Source: NC DHHS ORH).
Telehealth Supports Rural NC Communities
Telehealth services offer a unique way to address these barriers by allowing rural residents to see providers virtually from familiar spaces, such as their own homes, satellite clinics, schools, and community centers. These services also address challenges associated with traveling for health care, including time away from work, travel costs, and lack of access to reliable transportation.
Telehealth also improves access to specialty care for rural patients. Without these services, individuals living in rural areas may have to travel long distances to see specialty providers, often creating barriers to receiving the high-need care they require and deserve.
Support for Telehealth Implementation
Empowering rural community members to accept and feel comfortable using telehealth requires dedication, attention, and support. Unfamiliarity with technology and online platforms can deter rural community members from using these services.
To address this, Anshita Bhunia, a high school student at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Morganton, created a Bilingual Telehealth Access Toolkit.
The toolkit aims to address the unique structural and linguistic barriers that rural and underserved communities face. This is part of a broader initiative focused on helping older adults, immigrant communities, and other marginalized populations improve health care literacy and navigate telehealth services, particularly in rural or under-resourced settings. According to Bhunia, in Burke County, this resource is used among various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Let’s continue the spread across rural North Carolina!
Let’s continue the spread across rural North Carolina! The Bilingual Telehealth Access Toolkit is available now on NCRHA’s website to view, utilize, and share across North Carolina.
Connect, Collaborate, Advocate for a Healthier NC
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