Exploring Access and Barriers to Physical Therapy in Rural and Urban Medically Underserved Alabama Communities

Millions of Americans are designated as medically underserved, lacking adequate access to healthcare. Physical therapy (PT) is a healthcare discipline that can improve mobility and decrease secondary health conditions but is often inaccessible to medically underserved populations. In this qualitative study, persons living in urban or rural medically underserved locations in Alabama were interviewed to explore their awareness and perceptions of PT as well as barriers to access. Thirty-three in-person interviews were completed at the rural locality and 19 at the urban locality. The majority of interview subjects were female (81.8%) and most identified as Black/African American (81.8%). Three themes emerged: 1) a positive perception but incomplete awareness of the scope of PT services, 2) shared barriers to PT access across rural and urban settings, and 3) barriers unique to each locality. These findings were specific to PT but are likely relevant to a variety of allied health disciplines to improve healthcare access in medically underserved populations.