Applying a Social Ecological Model to Medical Legal Partnerships Practice and Research.

The social ecological model (SEM) is a conceptual framework that recognizes individuals function within multiple interactive systems and contextual environments that influence their health. Medical Legal Partnerships (MLPs) address the social determinants of health through partnerships between health providers and civil legal services. This paper explores how the conceptual framework of SEM can be applied to the MLP model, which also uses a multidimensional approach to address an individual's social determinants of health.

Evaluating the Efficacy of Medical-Legal Partnerships that Address Social Determinants of Health.

Background: Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) are health system-community partnerships composed of multi-disciplinary teams designed to improve patient and community health. MLPs provide legal services to address health-harming legal needs that contribute to health inequities.

Methods: A grant provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention established the Accelerating Health Equity, Advancing through Discovery (AHEAD) Initiative to identify, evaluate, and disseminate community-based interventions that improve health equity.

Interprofessional Medical-Legal Education of Medical Students: Assessing the Benefits for Addressing Social Determinants of Health.

Problem: Screening tools exist to help identify patient issues related to social determinants of health (SDH), but solutions to many of these problems remain elusive to health care providers as they require legal solutions. Interprofessional medical-legal education is essential to optimizing health care delivery.

Approach: In 2011, the authors implemented a four-session didactic interprofessional curriculum on medical-legal practice for third-year medical students at Morehouse School of Medicine.