A Prescription for Better Health: Medical-Legal Partnerships
Monday, September 20, 2010
- Organization: American Bar Association Dialogue Magazine
- Link: http://www.abanet.org
- Source: Pennsylvania
This article in the summer edition of ABA Dialogue Magazine discusses the formation of medical-legal partnerships.
In the article, Kelly Scott, Staff Attorney for the ABA Center for Pro Bono Medical-Legal Partnerships Pro Bono Support Project, discusses how medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) address the social determinants of health that create hardships for vulnerable populations through the integration of free legal services in the healthcare setting.
Members of healthcare team - including doctors, medical residents, nurses, and social workers - are uniquely situated to catch legal issues before a point of crisis. MLPs train healthcare staff to screen and triage potential legal issues that have a negative impact on health such as substandard housing conditions that lead to chronic asthma.
After a potential legal problem has been identified, the healthcare provider refers the patient to the MLP lawyer at the hospital or health clinic just as a patient would be referred to a cardiologist for a heart problem. The lawyers can be either a MLP staff attorney or a pro bono attorney.
