UA community health clinic, Legal Aid partner to improve wellness in Akron
The stress of daily life can lead to a medical condition or make an existing one worse. For the disadvantaged, worrying about problems with benefits, housing or other things takes a physical and mental toll. Finding solutions, with a little help, can mean better health.
A community health clinic at The University of Akron that serves a vulnerable urban population is stepping up to give its clients access to legal assistance for solving those sorts of problems, as well as for drawing up health-care directives.
One of three in nation
The Nursing Center for Community Health, an outreach program of UA’s School of Nursing, is one of three sites in the nation receiving grants to support nurse-managed medical-legal partnerships.
Medical-legal partnerships match health care providers with civil legal services. Nationwide, 262 health care institutions in 36 states have established medical-legal partnerships, according to the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership.
The UA grant, for $50,000 over 18 months, is from the National Nursing Centers Consortium. The consortium also is funding nurse-led medical-legal partnerships at East Tennessee State University and at the Abbottsford-Falls Health Center in Philadelphia.
Integrated services will better aid patients
UA’s Nursing Center for Community Health will integrate a medical-legal partnership into its nurse-managed clinic in Mary Gladwin Hall on the UA campus, said its director, Annette Mitzel, D.N.P., R.N. The clinic has operated near downtown since 2008. It serves about 300 regular clients with chronic diseases who are uninsured, underinsured or otherwise lack access to health care.
The grant supports some of the costs of training nurses and operating the medical-legal partnership, initially with Community Legal Aid in Akron. Mitzel expects a start date later this year.
As UA clinic nurses help patients manage chronic diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes, they become aware of day-to-day worries patients have that could be aggravating their condition. The advanced-practice nurses counsel patients about wellness and planning for their needs. As appropriate, patients now will be referred to Community Legal Aid for help. They also will be eligible for legal help crafting long-term plans for their health care, including living wills and health care powers of attorney.
UA’s Nursing Center for Community Health also has nurse practitioners at off-campus locations, working with Summit County Public Health and other community partners to provide access to care. It is possible that the nurse-managed medical-legal partnership model eventually could be extended to other sites as well, Mitzel said.
Learn more about The University of Akron Nursing Center for Community Health.
Media contact: Roger Mezger, 330-972-6482 or rmezger@uakron.edu.