This article in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved shares the results of a three-year study examining the impact of medical-legal partnership services in an academic pediatric primary care setting at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. There were positive legal outcomes in 89 percent of referrals affecting nearly 6,000 cohabitating children and adults, and translating into nearly $200,000 in recovered back benefits for those individuals.

Low-income children are more likely to suffer worse asthma outcomes because of their socioeconomic status and environmental exposures. During a seven-year study, a medical-legal partnership at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta addressed legal problems of asthma patients and their families. As a result, families experienced reduced stress and received a total of $501,209 in financial benefits.

This article examines how a pediatric-based medical-legal partnership in Cincinnati, Ohio, identified and treated a cluster of 16 substandard housing units. Of the 45 children living in those units, 36 percent had asthma, 33 percent had developmental delay or behavioral disorder, and 9 percent had an elevated lead level. The MLP was able to make repairs to the majority of the units and improve home environmental conditions for these children.

An Arizona study assessed the stress levels of patients before and after receiving legal services and found that medical-legal partnership intervention led to a reduction in perceived stress and an improvement in overall wellbeing. The findings were published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved.