Health Education and Legal Support Project - HEALS
The Health Education and Legal Support Project is a medical-legal partnership between Pisgah Legal Services, Mission Hospitals and the Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC). The purpose of the project is to improve health and well being for low-income women and children by integrating legal advocacy with health care. Through HEALS, PLS provides legal assistance to low-income patients to address non-medical barriers to health.
PLS legal staff are located on-site at Mission Hospitals to assist patients. Learn more about how legal aid improves health.
Success Story
PLS Prevents Homelessness for Cancer Patient
Hope and her husband Gary didn't think life could get any worse. Hope (pictured above with PLS attorney Mae Creadick) was undergoing treatment for cancer and Gary had just lost his job when their landlord threatened to evict them from their dilapidated trailer. A Mission Hospital social worker referred Hope to Pisgah Legal Services' HEALS program and PLS attorney Mae Creadick helped Hope and Gary prevent eviction and avoid homelessness. Hope's cancer is now in remission and she and Gary have found a better place to live.
How LEgal aid improves health
The detrimental effects of poverty on child and adult health are well-established. Socio-economic problems, such as domestic violence and substandard housing, cause and exacerbate illness and injury and may reduce adherence to healthcare treatment plans. The impact of high-quality medical care provided by Mission and MAHEC may be diminished by the non-medical problems of many low-income families. When patients' housing, educational, safety and financial needs are met, medical interventions can have optimal impact and the need for ongoing medical care may be decreased. Through HEALS, PLS poverty law experts provide legal services to address socio-economic issues that impact health.
In many situations, PLS poverty law attorneys are uniquely qualified to assist patients to:
- escape an abusive relationship;
- defend their rights with a disreputable landlord;
- preserve their housing and avoid homelessness;
- avoid predatory creditors; or
- navigate bureaucratic red tape to secure Medicaid or disability benefits.
Mission social worker Kathi Graham explains the impact that legal help makes for patients, "When someone is injured or sick the additional stress of legal issues can be very detrimental to their treatment and recovery. HEALS helps alleviate some of this stress, allowing patients to focus on their health and healing."
HEALS is based on a model of medical-legal collaboration that has been implemented in more than 60 communities around the country. For more information about this model, go to www.mlpforchildren.org.
