As social determinants of health are prioritized in the day-to-day care of patients in the U.S., a growing number of health care and legal organizations are forming medical-legal partnerships to help patients with complex needs access formerly disparate services in one place.
Patients who are immigrants, were recently incarcerated or lack safe shelter or employment can now get legal advice alongside their health care, helping them access expertise for petitioning a court or a program, gain representation for administrative proceedings and get referrals to attorneys with specialized knowledge.
The August issue of AMA Journal of Ethics® (@JournalofEthics) investigates ways that physicians and attorneys should work together to screen for and ably respond with care to legal determinants of patients’ health.
The AMA Journal of Ethics is an editorially independent, peer-reviewed journal devoted to helping medical students and physicians navigate ethical decisions in service to patients and communities.
The August issue of AMA Journal of Ethics includes the following articles:
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“How Is Access to Legal Resources and Advocacy Foundational to Health Justice?”
- Legal advocacy addresses patients’ health-harming legal needs in housing, public benefits, employment, education, immigration, domestic violence and other areas of law.
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“AMA Code of Medical Ethics’ Opinions Related to Medical-Legal Partnerships”
- AMA Code opinions about collaborative care, health inequity, financial barriers to health care access, and physician responsibilities for safe patient discharge from health care facilities can apply to medical-legal partnerships.
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“What Should Clinicians in Organizations Without Established MLP Programs Do When Their Patients Need Lawyers to Meet Their Health Needs?”
- Undocumented people in the U.S. face legal and structural barriers to health care services, including for kidney failure.
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“How Should We Measure Effectiveness of Medical-Legal Partnerships?”
- The evidence base for “patients-to-policy” work in medical-legal partnerships shows benefits to patients, clinicians, and hospital and legal systems.
Listen and learn
The journal’s August “Ethics Talk” podcast features a discussion with Lynette Martins, a legal and bioethics scholar, about how medical-legal partnerships can help undocumented patient-clients.
The August issue also features six author-interview podcasts. Listen to previous episodes of the “Ethics Talk” podcast or subscribe in iTunes or other services.
Also, CME modules drawn from this month’s issue are collected at the AMA Ed Hub™ AMA Journal of Ethics webpage.
Win up to $5,000 for your essay, artwork
Submissions for the 2024 Conley Contests are being accepted through Sept. 23.
Those eligible to submit entries are:
- U.S. MD and DO students.
- Resident physicians or fellows in programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or American Osteopathic Association.
- Early career physicians who have completed advanced training within the last five years.
The winning prize for the best essay and artwork, respectively, is up to $5,000.
Learn more about the Ethics Essay Contest and the Art of Medicine Contest.
A look ahead
The next issue of the journal will focus on what good science and ethics require of human-centered research using animals. Sign up to receive email alerts when new issues are published.
