Addressing Durable Health Disparities Through Critical Time Legal Interventions in Medically Underserved Latinx and Migrant Communities

In this study, we proposed that providing legal services within primary care can enhance healthcare delivery efficiency by addressing legal needs (such as barriers to health insurance, medical treatments, housing safety, employment stability, and other legal needs) that can disrupt care to patients.

The proposed study, led by researchers at Stony Brook University, Boston University, University of Central Florida (UCF), and the University of Puerto Rico in partnership with the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnerships, UCF School of Medicine's Implementation Science Lab, and six federally qualified health centers; will precisely examine the effects of legal services on primary care outcomes for medically underserved communities. We will conduct a hybrid type II effectiveness-implementation trial with a cluster randomized design in 6 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) in Pennsylvania, New York, and Puerto Rico to test a Critical-time Intervention Medical-Legal Partnership (CTI-MLP) approach compared to the standard of care. Three FQHCs will receive a CTI-MLP approach that includes provision of legal aid and capacity building through team-facing legal support. The other three FQHCs will receive legal education and awareness, including information about community-based legal organizations. Over a 12-month period, the team will collect (1) patients' health and functioning, including overall physical health, mental health, social health, pain, fatigue, and overall perceived quality of life; (2) data on legal needs and risk factors (3) longitudinal patient clinical outcomes (N=960); and (4) FQHC staff (N=180) and clinic-level indicators, including provider-patient communication and readiness for continued implementation and sustainability.

We will assemble a Latinx and migrant community advisory board and a scientific advisory board with medical-legal partnership expertise. Active engagement will ensure the effective translation and dissemination of our findings into practice. With new Medicaid models emerging that offer reimbursement for some social care provision, state officials can also use data to consider expansion of Medicaid services to include the coordination and provision of social and legal services. Completion of this project will result in an innovative, evidence-based intervention package to improve health outcomes for highly vulnerable communities.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients will be included in the trial if they meet all the following criteria: 1) ages 13 or older, 2) impacted by acute health-harming legal needs or risks (confirmed by screening developed in preparation for this proposal); 3) willing and able to consent to participate in the trial (including accessing EHR at the FQHC); and, 4) do not intend to relocate within the 12 months following their enrollment in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who do not meet the inclusion criteria will be excluded from the trial. Individuals who self-report having been sentenced to serve under state or federal custody, with a sentence to begin within 12 months from proposed enrollment in the study, will also be excluded from the trial.