Poverty, Health, and Law: Addressing
the social determinants of
HIV/AIDS through medical-legal
partnership
Ali Brock, MS-II
Project Overview
Proposal: to co-author a chapter to be published
in Poverty, Health, and Law: Reading and Cases for
Medical-Legal Partnership
 Team

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Deb Weimer, JD - University of MD School of Law
Ann Hilton-Fisher, JD - AIDS Legal Council of Chicago
Jayson Cooley, L2 - Roger Williams School of Law
Dr. Jody Rich, MD, MPH – Warren Alpert Medical
School and Miriam Hospital Immunology Center
◦ Editor: Liz Tobin Tyler, JD - Director of Public Service
and Community Partnerships at the Roger Williams
School of Law
Background and Definitions

Medical-legal partnership (MLP)
◦ A collaboration that strives to to improve
health and wellness of vulnerable populations
by integrating legal services into the medical
setting

Social determinants of health (SDH)
◦ Per the World Health Organization, the
conditions in which people are born, grow,
live, work, and age
Goals

For the book
◦ Provide relevant case studies and best
practices for MLP among vulnerable
populations
◦ Facilitate collaborative learning between
medical and law students

For the chapter
◦ Elucidate relationship between SDH and HIV
◦ Highlight the urgent need for MLP among
individuals infected and affected by HIV
Chapter Outline

Medical Sections
◦ Development of the US HIV/AIDS epidemic
◦ Clinical course of HIV and antiretroviral drugs
◦ Relationship between SDH and HIV among
vulnerable populations

Legal Sections
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Confidentiality and disclosure
Employment rights and protections
Public Benefits: eligibility and access
Considerations for families and children
Planning for incapacitation and death
Best practices for MLP, discussion questions,
and case studies presented throughout
My Role
Unexpected, challenging, and also perfect
 Researched and wrote medical sections
 Created chapter outlines, assigned
sections and word counts, established
(and re-established!) deadlines
 Integrated sections, opinions, and
revisions from co-authors
 Liaison between writing team and book
editor

Related Activities
June: attended the 2010 International
Network for Justice Health
 July: together with a colleague, assisted
Dr. Rich in editing a special edition of
Substance Abuse
 October: developed and presented a
lecture on poverty and HIV to Roger
Williams law students
 Ongoing: see patients with Dr. Rich at the
Adult Correctional Institute

Thank you
RI AHEC
 Dr. Jody Rich
 Liz Tobin-Tyler
 Co-authors
 Jessica Hart, MS-II
