A patient arrives for a follow-up appointment, but managing their diabetes isn’t the biggest challenge. They don’t know where they’re going to sleep next week. Another patient skips their needed medications because they have to choose between prescriptions and groceries. For physicians and trainees, these situations raise an important question: What role should clinicians play… Read more »
Blog Category: Health Equity
Towards an Enduring Future: Building Trust with Community Health Workers
A community health worker and residents stand at the entry of a patient’s home. The patient is a 62-year old woman, who lives alone and has been experiencing paralysis on the right side of her body. “How are you doing today, ma’am?” the resident asks. “I’ve been better. Having some difficulty getting out of the… Read more »
A Voice They Understand: How Translation Devices Build Trust and Transform Patient Care
Mrs. Alvarez, an 83-year-old woman recovering from total hip replacement surgery, speaks very little English. When staff at the skilled nursing facility where she’s recovering try to help her stand or ask if she’s in pain, confusion grows on both sides as gestures replace clear verbal communication. One morning, she reaches for a small hand-held… Read more »
Building Trust & Equity in Internal Medicine: One Brooklyn Health
In April, our team had the opportunity to visit One Brooklyn Health (OBH) and witness firsthand how they are training residents to provide patient-centered and responsive care. Supported by the Building Trust: Advancing Health Equity program, the project team has worked with community partners and a teaching and advisory team to develop a thoughtful health… Read more »
Building Trust, Creating Home: Lessons from a Community Clinic
Dr. Hijab Zubairi, MD, MPH, Co-Director of the Health Equity and Advocacy Pathway at UCLA, identified a problem: a lack of housing can create distrust between unhoused people and medical professionals due to distance and prior trauma. Her response, a medical home—a clinic that provides urgent and primary care services for the unhoused—provides a crucial… Read more »