Health care initiative seeks to aid low-income families
Andrew Zaleski
Issue date: 9/23/08 Section: News
Suffering from the flu or receiving a cut on an arm are not major health crises. For most people, medications and antibiotics are easily accessible. For many families, health insurance usually covers the cost of such ailments. Because they have the means to address their health concerns - and therefore are not preoccupied about the state of their health - those individuals are able to focus on creating better lives for themselves through their education and work.
But what happens when a person is too poor to afford health insurance? Who worries about education when a cut becomes infected? What happens when that flu is the result of malnutrition and a weak immune system?
Other aspects associated with leading a productive life become secondary when a person or family living in poor health has trouble finding health care assistance.
Enter Project HEALTH, a movement of social workers, physicians and student volunteers dedicated not only to ensuring that low-income families receive sufficient medical care, but also to discovering and correcting the root causes of health-related problems.
"We are all working to change the health care system by breaking the barrier between poverty and poor health," said Julia Gerard, a Loyola senior who volunteers with the program.
Established in 1996 at the Boston Medical Center Pediatrics Department, Project HEALTH has since expanded to five other cities, including Providence, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Project HEALTH volunteers seek to address more than just the final symptoms of a health-related ailment. According to their website, projecthealth.org, the program solves health crises by connecting families and individuals to services that provide housing for those without homes, food for those who are unable to afford it and job training for those seeking employment.
"We get the entire back story of those families in order to uncover the root causes of issues," said Mark Marino, the executive director of Project HEALTH in Baltimore. "We use a broad, holistic approach as an entry point to discover the smaller issues afflicting families."
But what happens when a person is too poor to afford health insurance? Who worries about education when a cut becomes infected? What happens when that flu is the result of malnutrition and a weak immune system?
Other aspects associated with leading a productive life become secondary when a person or family living in poor health has trouble finding health care assistance.
Enter Project HEALTH, a movement of social workers, physicians and student volunteers dedicated not only to ensuring that low-income families receive sufficient medical care, but also to discovering and correcting the root causes of health-related problems.
"We are all working to change the health care system by breaking the barrier between poverty and poor health," said Julia Gerard, a Loyola senior who volunteers with the program.
Established in 1996 at the Boston Medical Center Pediatrics Department, Project HEALTH has since expanded to five other cities, including Providence, Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Project HEALTH volunteers seek to address more than just the final symptoms of a health-related ailment. According to their website, projecthealth.org, the program solves health crises by connecting families and individuals to services that provide housing for those without homes, food for those who are unable to afford it and job training for those seeking employment.
"We get the entire back story of those families in order to uncover the root causes of issues," said Mark Marino, the executive director of Project HEALTH in Baltimore. "We use a broad, holistic approach as an entry point to discover the smaller issues afflicting families."
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
GJGG
GJ Gerard
posted 9/26/08 @ 1:52 PM EST
Great story about a great work to meet a great need.
Alice Heaton
posted 3/24/09 @ 12:32 AM EST
Thank you for writing the article, I am very pleased with how it came out.
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