title: Breaking barriers to care: a community of solution for chronic disease management.
abstract: For 10 years the Medical College of Wisconsin and Columbia St. Mary's Hospital have joined together in a partnership to work within some of Milwaukee's most impoverished neighborhoods. Beginning simply by providing health care through a free clinic, the partnership soon was confronted with numerous examples of barriers to care being experienced by patients. A community-based participatory action process allowed the local population to give voice to the local realities of barriers to care. Here we combine our anecdotal clinical experience, the neighborhood's input, and an example of a successful program from a low-resource international setting to create a novel approach to treating chronic disease in uninsured populations. This model of care has been successful for 2 reasons. First, the model shows good health outcomes at low cost. Second, solid community partnerships with care providers, churches, and other groups have been formed in support of the model, ensuring its credibility and sustainability.
authors: Department of Family and Community Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA. jsanders@mcw.edu
authors: Jim
authors: J
authors: Sanders
authors: Bill
authors: B
authors: Solberg
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Gauger
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching; D006801:Humans; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D009096:Multi-Institutional Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011204:Poverty Areas; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012577:Schools, Medical; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration; D017664:Uncompensated Care; D014922:Wisconsin
keywords: Chronic Disease; Community Medicine; Public Health