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For D.C.'s Street Medicine Practitioners, Health Care and Housing Are Linked
For D.C.'s Street Medicine Practitioners, Health Care and Housing Are Linked
"If we take that first step to engage people in care, we can start building that trust over time."
AMANDA MICHELLE GOMEZ MAR 3, 2020 7 AM
{snip}
While its clinics now serve all District residents, regardless of their ability to pay, Unity Health Care started out solely caring for patients experiencing homelessness. Founded in 1985, Unity Health Care was one of the country’s first groups to provide health care for the homeless. From the very beginning, its clinics have been based in homeless shelters and since 1987, its doctors have traveled by van to provide care to patients living on the streets.
“We’ve always believed in meeting our patients where they are,” Crosland says.
Unity Health Care started its street medicine practice in 2009 so they could reach more patients. The then-executive director of the Georgetown Ministry Center, Gunther Stern, asked Unity Health Care if Crosland could walk with him as he did outreach around Georgetown instead of staying in the van. While the van started out in a similar vein as street medicine, it had its own limitations.
“Even when we had the van parked next to the park, sometimes people won’t take that first step to come in and see the doctor for any number of reasons—paranoia, fear of doctor … they don't want to leave their belongings, which are at this corner and you are parked over at that corner,” says Crosland. “We have realized more and more that if we take that first step to engage people in care, we can start building that trust over time.”
Street medicine is practiced in cities all over the country, from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Dr. Jim Withers, who started one of the nation’s first full-time street medicine practices in Pittsburgh, began walking around with medical supplies in his backpack and meeting with patients experiencing homelessness in alleyways or highway overpasses as early as 1992.
Crosland, for her part, has been walking since she started at Unity Health Care more than 10 years ago, and now leads the street medicine practice. She knew she wanted to do this type of work at a young age. Before attending Harvard Medical School, Crosland worked with the global health nonprofit Partners in Health in Peru, where she accompanied health care workers as they delivered therapy to people in their homes. Now, two decades later, Crosland is the director of homeless outreach at Unity Health Care and continues to deliver health care to people where they live. In academia, this is known as “social justice medicine,” but in practice, it boils down to meeting people where they are, quite literally.
{snip}
"If we take that first step to engage people in care, we can start building that trust over time."
AMANDA MICHELLE GOMEZ MAR 3, 2020 7 AM
{snip}
While its clinics now serve all District residents, regardless of their ability to pay, Unity Health Care started out solely caring for patients experiencing homelessness. Founded in 1985, Unity Health Care was one of the country’s first groups to provide health care for the homeless. From the very beginning, its clinics have been based in homeless shelters and since 1987, its doctors have traveled by van to provide care to patients living on the streets.
“We’ve always believed in meeting our patients where they are,” Crosland says.
Unity Health Care started its street medicine practice in 2009 so they could reach more patients. The then-executive director of the Georgetown Ministry Center, Gunther Stern, asked Unity Health Care if Crosland could walk with him as he did outreach around Georgetown instead of staying in the van. While the van started out in a similar vein as street medicine, it had its own limitations.
“Even when we had the van parked next to the park, sometimes people won’t take that first step to come in and see the doctor for any number of reasons—paranoia, fear of doctor … they don't want to leave their belongings, which are at this corner and you are parked over at that corner,” says Crosland. “We have realized more and more that if we take that first step to engage people in care, we can start building that trust over time.”
Street medicine is practiced in cities all over the country, from Los Angeles to Atlanta. Dr. Jim Withers, who started one of the nation’s first full-time street medicine practices in Pittsburgh, began walking around with medical supplies in his backpack and meeting with patients experiencing homelessness in alleyways or highway overpasses as early as 1992.
Crosland, for her part, has been walking since she started at Unity Health Care more than 10 years ago, and now leads the street medicine practice. She knew she wanted to do this type of work at a young age. Before attending Harvard Medical School, Crosland worked with the global health nonprofit Partners in Health in Peru, where she accompanied health care workers as they delivered therapy to people in their homes. Now, two decades later, Crosland is the director of homeless outreach at Unity Health Care and continues to deliver health care to people where they live. In academia, this is known as “social justice medicine,” but in practice, it boils down to meeting people where they are, quite literally.
{snip}