Health and Dignity for the Homeless

Nancy Hu, a Social Worker with California Hospital Medical Center, Dignity Health, would like to see lower readmission rates, reinfections and fewer visits to the emergency department for her patients. Nancy works with patients who are about to be discharged from the hospital and the majority of her caseload is individuals who are without a home.

“I see myself as someone who advocates for my patients and collaborates with the nurses, doctors and case managers to work towards a safe discharge,” shared Nancy, “The challenge is that when someone is not able to heal in a clean and safe environment, it puts the person at a much greater risk of another hospitalization and further exacerbating their illness, all of which can be prevented.”

Since 2015, National Health Foundation’s Pathways Recuperative Care has become one avenue for safe discharge of homeless patients from partner hospitals. Pathways offers temporary housing with medical oversight to individuals who are without a home. The advantage for patients is that they can heal safely and are given the support needed to adhere to follow-up care schedules. For partnering hospitals the advantage is peace of mind, “The hospital feels reassured that the patients are able to go somewhere clean and safe to heal while getting assistance with follow-up appointments and housing,” says Nancy.

Not every homeless patient opts for accepting Recuperative Care and not all are a fit. As a social worker, Nancy assesses each patient who is homeless to see if they are appropriate for recuperative care, if they are motivated to get housing, and those who wish to recover from their medical condition. Not all homeless patients want to be housed, “Personally, it makes me sad because it doesn’t have to be that way. But I also know that we all have rights to make choices that we feel is best for ourselves and to choose to take help when it is offered.”

On any given day, Nancy is balancing and prioritizing between a victim of crime, someone who is homeless and being discharged while it is cold and raining outside, and another who is dealing with a life changing/altering diagnosis. We at National Health Foundation’s Pathways Recuperative Care are grateful to Nancy and Social Workers everywhere who are providing essential care to patients at their most vulnerable; upon discharge from the hospital.

Increasing Opportunities for Exercise in Historic South Los Angeles

On February 13^th, 2017, Central Avenue Jazz Park in Historic South Central Los Angeles was transformed into an outdoor fitness space with community members and instructors moving through workouts designed to increase cardiovascular capacity, boost energy levels and increase the feeling of wellbeing. For community member Claudia Durango, it was a welcomed event, “This is going to be really good for the community; we just need to continue having people show up.” The new program is part of the rollout of National Health Foundation’s (NHF) BUILD Health LA Initiative Community Action Plan for Historic South Central.

In 2016, NHF’s BUILD Health LA Community Health Liaisons, a group of local high school students and their mentors, surveyed the community to understand residents’ barriers to health. The results of the survey were captured in the Community Action Plan that aims to improve the health of the community through methods that have been identified by the community’s residents and that capitalize on partnerships and the assets available.

Historic South Central Los Angeles is 6 square miles, and is home to roughly 103,000 people. In this community, there are no gyms and there is only 0.4 acres of park space for every 100,000 people. Along with having limited access to open space, this community is considered both a food desert (with few healthy food retail choices) and a food swamp (categorized by a prevalence of unhealthy food outlets). Obesity and diabetes are common in this community, and while physicians recommend healthy eating and exercise, these lifestyle changes are challenging to practice with what is available in the community.

One of the needs the Community Action Plan addresses is for programs to keep residents physically active. Many stated that the classes that were available were too expensive and that the free programs had extensive waitlists of residents eager to join. We learned that these residents want to exercise and they will – if the opportunity is there.

As a result, we partnered with 3WINS Fitness, an innovative program spearheaded by Dr. Loy and Kinesiology students from California State University, Northridge. 3WINS Fitness “adopts” parks in Los Angeles, and sends Kinesiology students to teach community members how to exercise while nurturing a community mentality that leads to friendships, accountability and results!

In addition to 3WINS Fitness, NHF also partnered with California Hospital Medical Center, LA County Department of Public Health, LA City Parks and Recreation, Newton Community Police Station, All People’s Community Center, and A Place Called Home, to launch the fitness program. Classes take place Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at Central Avenue Jazz Park and All People’s Community Center.

Community members are thrilled with this new opportunity and have already built great rapport with the instructors from 3WINS. For NHF, the program represents a new way of delivering health to the community. “By creating an opportunity for the community to express their needs and actively engage in finding solutions to the health barriers they were experiencing, they are bringing about healthy changes from within,” shared NHF CEO Kelly Bruno.

Consistency is always the key with taking on a new behavior, but we are sure that with this new partnership and with the different components of the BUILD Health LA Initiative and Community Action Plan, the residents in Historic South Central Los Angeles will have new opportunities to live a healthier lifestyle.