Journal article
Keeping the Heat on for Children's Health: A Successful Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative to Prevent Utility Shutoffs in Vulnerable Children
Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, v 26(3), pp 676-685
01 Aug 2015
PMID: 26320904
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Objective. Energy insecurity may result in adverse consequences for children's health, particularly for children with special health needs or chronic health conditions. We aimed to determine whether a multimodal intervention addressing energy insecurity within the framework of a medical-legal partnership (MLP) resulted in an increase in the provision of certifications of medical need for utility coverage in an inner city academic primary care practice. Methods. Working within a medical-legal partnership, we standardized criteria for providers approving medical need utility certification requests. We compared prior-year utility certification requests and approvals (pre-intervention) with the intervention year for families who reported energy insecurity on a waiting-room screening questionnaire. Results. Between the first and second years of the study, certification of medical need approvals increased by 65%, preventing utility shut-offs for 396 more families with vulnerable children. Conclusions. Energy insecurity can be screened for and addressed in a busy urban practice, potentially improving the wellbeing of vulnerable children.
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Details
- Title
- Keeping the Heat on for Children's Health: A Successful Medical-Legal Partnership Initiative to Prevent Utility Shutoffs in Vulnerable Children
- Creators
- Daniel R. Taylor - Drexel Univ, Coll Med, Sect Gen Pediat, Dept Pediat,St Christophers Hosp Children, Philadelphia, PA 19134 USABruce A. Bernstein - Drexel Univ, Coll Med, Sect Gen Pediat, Dept Pediat,St Christophers Hosp Children, Philadelphia, PA 19134 USAEileen Carroll - Legal Clin Disabled, Philadelphia, PA USAElizabeth Oquendo - Legal Clin Disabled, Philadelphia, PA USALinda Peyton - Legal Clin Disabled, Philadelphia, PA USALee M. Pachter - Drexel Univ, Coll Med, Sect Gen Pediat, Dept Pediat,St Christophers Hosp Children, Philadelphia, PA 19134 USA
- Publication Details
- Journal of health care for the poor and underserved, v 26(3), pp 676-685
- Publisher
- Johns Hopkins Univ Press
- Number of pages
- 10
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Pediatrics
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000360915400008
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84940389646
- Other Identifier
- 991019168339204721
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InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Health Policy & Services
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health