Cincinnati program that improves family living conditions leads to better child health outcomes, stu

A new study has found that a child health-law partnership program in Cincinnati that helps improve living conditions for families with children who have chronic conditions has led to a nearly 40% drop in hospital admissions (Source: “Doctor-lawyer advocacy gives Cincinnati area kids better health outcomes, study shows,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 23).
 
Child Help, the Cincinnati Child Health-Law Partnership, which was created by Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Legal Aid of Greater Cincinnati, has assisted kids in more than 20,000 advocacy cases since the partnership started in 2008. Many of its cases involve kids whose living environment exacerbated chronic health conditions, such as an apartment with mold or cockroaches. Others address evictions that could leave children homeless. And some involve special needs children in schools. Left unheeded, the problems could end in poor health and repeated hospital admissions for children.
 
A study published March 7 in Health Affairs shows a 38% reduction in the hospitalization rate among children who got Child Help assistance from 2012 through 2017. 
 
Study co-author Dr. Andrew Beck of Cincinnati Children's division of general and community pediatrics said he wasn't surprised to find a drop in readmissions for the kids who were helped by the partnership. He just didn't know how great the drop would be.
 
“It reinforces the notion that our surroundings, socioeconomic and social determinants, impact health outcomes," he said. "It highlights the importance of clinical-community partnerships. It shows that support of these programs in new and innovative ways of reimbursing is important.”