title: Process and impact evaluation of a legal assistance and health care community partnership.
abstract: Community health partnerships have increased in popularity, but their effectiveness is often not evaluated. Through secondary data analysis, this study evaluates a program that offered access to legal services to address health-related issues, such as Medicaid reimbursement, Social Security benefits, medication coverage, and divorce. Based on the analysis reimbursements to expenditures, the health and law program appears to be cost-effective and thereby economically sustainable. The cost-effectiveness of this program increases the likelihood that it will be institutionalized and/or expanded. This program evaluation is used to exemplify how community stakeholders could partner to leverage resources to establish a sustainable community health and law program to address the needs of people living in medically underserved areas.
authors.affiliation: Southern Illinois University Carbondale Department of Health Education and Recreation in Carbondale, Illinois, USA.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Teufel
authors.forename: Stephen L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Woody
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.forename: Diane M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Goffinet
authors.forename: Latesha
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clemons
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004243:Divorce; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007087:Illinois; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009939:Organizations, Nonprofit; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011203:Poverty; D011632:Public Assistance / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D012943:Social Security / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities