title: Legal Care as Part of Health Care: The Benefits of Medical-Legal Partnership.
abstract: Many of the social determinants of health are rooted in legal problems. Medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) have the potential to positively change clinical systems. This change can be accomplished by integrating legal staff into health care clinics to educate staff and residents on social determinants of health and their legal origins. When the MLP team works directly with patients to identify and address legal needs that improve health outcomes, and incorporate legal insights and solutions into health care practice where the patient population is overwhelmingly impacted by social conditions, outcomes are beneficial to children and families.
authors: Division of General Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Vose Hall 3, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Electronic address: johnna.murphy@bmc.org.
authors: Johnna S
authors: JS
authors: Murphy
authors: National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, Department of Health Policy and Management, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 2175 K Street, NW, 513A, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
authors: Ellen M
authors: EM
authors: Lawton
authors: Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Vose Hall 3, Boston, MA 02118, USA.
authors: Megan
authors: M
authors: Sandel
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D064890:Social Determinants of Health
keywords: Clinics; Health; Legal needs; Medical-legal partnership; Social determinants