225294 A Case Study in MLP as a Health Disparities Reduction Strategy: Food and Fuel in Massachusetts

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 12:45 PM - 1:00 PM

Samantha Morton, JD , Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
Rebecca Lawrence, MSW, MPH , Medical Legal Partnership | Boston, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA
  
This abstract proposal is 3 of 4 proposals intended to be part of a complete panel entitled: Medical-Legal Partnerships: Promoting Health and Social Justice. Please consider this abstract individually if the entire panel is not selected.

We will chronicle MLP | Boston's most sweeping systemic advocacy campaign to date -- utility shutoff protection – which in late 2008 resulted in progressive regulatory changes by the MA Department of Public Utilities, affecting thousands of low-income, medically vulnerable utility and health care consumers. Panelists will share the genesis of the project (including the role of the MA Department of Public Health and its Office of Health Equity), its early focus on training health care providers on the health impacts of fuel insecurity, the eventual creation of a designated legal clinic, major behavior changes among health care providers, and ultimately, successful regulatory advocacy that both expanded protections for low-income utility consumers and acknowledged the operational constraints under which health care institutions currently labor.

Learning Areas:
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
„X List 2 of the key infrastructural ingredients a health clinic must supply in order to have a successful MLP. „X List 2 different levels of disparities reduction impact that an MLP can achieve. „X Identify 2 research metrics a health clinic can utilize to assess the impact of an MLP project.

Keywords: Health Disparities, Food and Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the Research Coordinator for the Medical-Legal Partnership | Boston program
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4194.0: Medical Legal Partnerships