by Anna Tecklenburg and Crysta Schaff
HealthLinks

HealthLinks, a new MUSC program that promotes family-centered care, recently started its pilot program in the Pediatric Primary Care clinic.

The program uses student volunteers to connect MUSC patients and their families to non-medical resources in the community in order to improve their overall health and well-being. As South Carolina is still feeling the effects of the economic recession, many patients and families that once had access to basic services such as transportation, working utilities, child care programs, adult education or food, are finding that these services are harder to locate and access.

Health literature continues to demonstrate the acute influence that social factors have on the biophysical health of an individual. A person's location, mobility and opportunity within a given physical and social environment can directly influence that patient's ability to prevent, manage and seek treatment for potential health concerns. With the help of student volunteers, patients will have the opportunity to better navigate services offered in their local communities.

Supporting HealthLinks are Layne Madden, from left, Anna Baur, McRae Hamer, Allyson Dodson and Daniel Tagge. Program coordinators are Anna Tecklenburg and Crysta Schaff. Students interested in volunteering may visit www.muschealth.com/volunteer and complete the HealthLinks application. The program is operated from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Wednesday, in the Pediatrics Primary Care Clinic. For information, call 792-3992 and leave a message or email healthlinks@musc.edu. The program ends Aug. 1 and will resume Sept. 15.

Katy Kuder, manager of Volunteer and Guest Services supports the program. "MUSC will truly be providing holistic, family centered care that offers continuity in health care beyond the doctor's office."

McRae Hamer is a College of Nursing student and a HealthLinks volunteer. "Nursing paradigm and theory stresses treating individuals and families with a multifaceted approach rooted in the social, economic, cultural and biological determinants of health," she said. "Achieving positive health care outcomes requires more than simple referrals to seek additional services. Implementing a program to assist patients with identifying and navigating community resources is a huge step in the right direction."

By having an avenue to research available services, patients can leave their doctor visit with a means to treat the whole person – not just biophysical health but the economic, social and safety factors that influence health. Rhonda Lucas, nurse manager for the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic, said HealthLinks has been helpful to the patients in the clinic. "We are so appreciative of them providing services to the patients."

Not only will the volunteers give referrals for resources, they will also conduct follow-up phone calls to ensure that the patients are able to connect with the resources provided. Deborah Williamson, DHA, associate professor and associate dean for practice at the College of Nursing said HealthLinks is a great opportunity for students to learn about the non-medical needs that contribute to health disparities and the available community resources to meet these needs. "As health professionals we give advice and prescriptions for a medical condition, but we aren't improving the health of the individual until we address basic needs such as food, housing and low literacy."

HealthLinks is being operated by a dynamic and highly-motivated team of students from the colleges of Medicine and Nursing. From the College of Medicine are Anna Baur, Layne Madden, Ellen Maher and Daniel Tagge; and from the College of Nursing, Caroline Dawson, Allyson Dodson, Hamer and Elsie Sabone. Their efforts have been critical to the launch of this program. In the fall, HealthLinks will open its applicant pool to include graduate, undergraduate and law students from local colleges and universities.

MUSC President Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., conceptualized the idea of having the HealthLinks program operate out of MUSC, and medical director Patrick Cawley, M.D., has continued to champion the mission of HealthLinks and the efforts of the program's developers and volunteers.