Standing in the Gap: The Crisis of U.S. Health Deserts and The Folks Ensuring Their Neighbors Receive Care
SERIES TRAILER: "Standing in the Gap” is a docu-series about the crisis of health deserts in the U.S. and the folks who are ensuring their neighbors can access care.
One woman opens up about experiencing period poverty, and what’s she’s doing to combat it today in Appalachia.
A doula who is standing in the gap to ensure her community receives care opens up about her own challenges in living in a healthcare desert.
Sam grew up surrounded by poverty and addiction. Today, he and @bristolactiongroup work tirelessly to ensure their communities have what they need.
One OBGYN talks about how her professional life became difficult after the fall of Roe v. Wade.
A rural OBGYN on his endless tour of duty. A shortage of qualified providers willing to work in rural areas forces existing providers to work longer hours, increasing the risk of burnout.
A Social-First Documentary Series To Inspire Action
This is the story of how a perfect storm of policy failure, economic pressure, and political chaos is creating "health deserts," and breaking healthcare for all of us. It's a story about what happens when the system we rely on for survival leaves us behind.
The Problem: 80% of U.S. counties are now considered healthcare deserts, impacting over 120 million Americans (KFF)
The Compounding Deserts: These deserts overlap, creating a nightmare of zero-access zones. Over 30% of Americans lack adequate access to services like pharmacies, primary care providers, hospitals, and trauma centers.
35% of counties in the U.S. are classified as maternal health deserts, meaning they lack access to hospitals or birth centers providing obstetric care. These areas are home to over 2.3 million women of reproductive age and suffer from a lack of obstetric providers, leading to higher risks for mothers and babies. (MoD)
19 million women live in "contraceptive deserts," lacking access to a full range of birth control. (PTD)
"Standing In the Gap" is a series of short, powerful social-media-first documentary films (90-120 seconds), each telling a story of the crisis of health deserts in the U.S., while highlighting the heroes who are standing in the gap to ensure their communities can access care.
The goal of this series is threefold:
To educate Americans that these gaps to access exist, and affect all of us,
To encourage viewers to donate and support the orgs that are standing in the gap,
To encourage viewers to vote, to let their legislators know that these access gaps are not OK.
Our next steps:
Travel to Alabama in March
Travel to Oklahoma in April
Travel to Kansas in May
Travel to Montana in June
Travel to New York in July