Document Type

Capstone Experience

Graduation Date

8-2018

Degree Name

Master of Public Health

Department

Health Services Research & Administration

First Committee Member

Fernando Wilson

Second Committee Member

Ronald Shope

Abstract

This research study was completed at Legal Aid of Nebraska’s Health, Education, and Law Project through the partnership it has formed working with Nebraska Medicine and Iowa Legal Aid. Traditionally, health and disease have always been viewed exclusively as "healthcare" issues. But with healthcare consistently growing towards holistic approaches to help patients, we now know there are deeper, structural conditions of society that can act as strong driving forces of a person's poor daily living conditions that can negatively impact health. The importance of a Medical-Legal Partnership is that it considers a patient's social determinants of health (SDHs). The goal of this quality improvement study was to enhance the effectiveness of future Health, Education, and Law Project (HELP) outreach and operations and to analyze the effect the project has on the patients that it aids and the community. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, including statistical analysis and one-on-one in-person interviews, a characterization of the patients/clients who receive aid was formed. By means of this study, we were able to generate a picture of who is receiving aid, what problems they are facing, where they are coming from, and why such aid is necessary to successfully receive appropriate healthcare.

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