Advocacy Guide

Clinical Partners in Advocacy: How Can I-HELP? (October 2010)

A Handbook for Clinicians Caring for Adult Populations

This guide represents a resource for medical professionals throughout Massachusetts who are interested in providing high-quality patient care that addresses social determinants of health.

As a training manual, the guide relies on a mnemonic device, I-HELP^SM, to provide an overview of the five issues for which MLP | Boston and our clinical partners screen patients: Income supports; Housing and utilities; Education and employment; Legal (immigration) status; and Personal and family stability and safety.

The guide also provides practical examples of both screening techniques and referral responses so that clinicians can identify unmet needs and respond to legal issues that directly impact patient health and wellbeing.

You can download the 2010 guide by clicking here.

Clinical Partners in Advocacy: How Can I-HELP (October 2009)

This is the original version of the I-HELP guide.  The issues discussed and the cases presented more closely align with a pediatrics practice.  For example, the cases discuss at least some child health problems (infant weight loss, guardianship of a youth with diminished capacity turning 18.)  And, educational advocacy at the primary and secondary levels is one of the key components of the original guide.

You can download the 2009 guide by clicking here.