CHICAGO, April 4, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Easter Seals, the American Medical Association (AMA) and LogistiCare today announced they are working together to conduct a study for the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on the relationship between transportation access and health and wellness. The study findings are expected to be announced in late 2011.

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"Approximately 2.6 million adults in the U.S. don't get the health care they need because they don't have transportation," said Cecil B. Wilson, president, AMA. "Understanding the relationship between access to transportation and access to care is key to helping patients get the care they need."

Physicians and service providers have long noted the absence of transportation resources as a barrier to care. There's also the potential that a lack of transportation access may result in increased hospitalizations and complications from neglected health care. Yet there is still little research available on these issues.  

"Lack of access to transportation options is a major barrier to living, learning and working in the community. We consistently hear this message from the many people living with disabilities, older adults and families we serve," said James E. Williams, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Easter Seals. "We need to better understand how that lack of access truly impacts people's lives from an economic and quality of life standpoint. Easter Seals is pleased to work with such notable researchers and partners to study this intersection between health, wellness and transportation options and learn how we can better serve our publics."

Competitively selected, the study's research team is led by Dr. Thomas R. Prohaska of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Center for Research on Health and Aging, within the Institute for Health Research and Policy, and with other notable scholars from participating universities Texas A&M Health Science Center and the University of California, Berkeley. Working with medical transportation data from LogistiCare, the team expects to learn new information regarding the interaction between health and transportation access.  

"As the nation's leading client focused medical transportation mobility solution, managing over 26 million medically necessary transports annually, LogistiCare observes first hand the positive results of access to medical treatment for our clients," said Herman Schwarz, chief executive officer, LogistiCare. "Our database resources will provide a rich data environment for this study on measuring the importance of transportation in improving healthcare outcomes."

The study is funded through the Federal Transit Administration Technical Assistance Centers Easter Seals Project ACTION and the National Center on Senior Transportation with significant in-kind support from the AMA and LogistiCare.

About Easter Seals & Easter Seals Project ACTION

Easter Seals is the leading non-profit provider of services for individuals with autism, developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and other special needs. For more than 90 years, we have been offering help and hope to children and adults living with disabilities, and to the families who love them. Funded through its Federal Transit Administration Cooperative Agreements, Easter Seals Project ACTION expands accessible transportation for people living with disabilities through training, technical assistance, outreach and applied research. Easter Seals has collaborated with the Federal Transit Administration for twenty-three years to advance transportation access for people living with disabilities for all ages through close collaboration with the disability and transportation communities. For resources to help expand accessible transportation and transportation options for people living with disabilities and older adults, visit www.projectaction.org and www.seniortransportation.net.

About the American Medical Association (AMA)

The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians nationwide to work on the most important professional, public health and health policy issues. The nation's largest physician organization plays a leading role in shaping the future of medicine. For more information on the AMA, please visit www.ama-assn.org. And visit the AMA's Aging and Community Health website to learn about various activities and resources to help our aging society www.ama-assn.org/go/aging.

About LogistiCare Solutions, LLC

LogistiCare provides coordinated and mobility specific transportation services in 38 states and is headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Learn more at www.LogistiCare.com.

SOURCE Easter Seals