Prescription for poverty A trip to the clinic

St. Michael’s Hospital’s family and community medicine department is the first in the country to implement a strong poverty treatment program. The various components are still being developed, but here is what you might experience today as a patient walki

Admissions

You fill out a form on a tablet in the waiting room. Unlike most admissions forms, it asks for your preferred language, race, gender, sexual orientation and your family’s total income last year. The first step in treating poverty is screening for it.

Checkup

Your doctor checks your blood pressure, your weight, your breathing and then checks for symptoms of poverty. The question Gary Bloch advises other doctors to ask is “Do you ever have difficulty making ends meet at the end of the month?”

Financial help

If you’re struggling to pay rent and eat, you’ll visit the clinic’s income security health promoter, Karen Tomlinson. She might help fill out your Ontario disability forms, find affordable child care, locate the nearest food bank, file for bankruptcy or apply for old age security.

Social work

Celia Schwartz will help you with anxiety depression and other mental health problems, working with the clinic’s psychiatrist and psychologist. She does group and personal theraphy She may refer you to mindfulness classes or offer an emergency food voucher.

Legal aid

Johanna Macdonald recently set up her law office inside St. Michael’s family medicine department. Her salary is paid by Ontario legal aid, through the ARCH disability law centre. She’ll help you with legal problems that arguably cause illnesses — landlord fights, abuse, sexual assault, immigration challenges.

Books to go

Research shows that 90 per cent of a child’s brain is formed by age 5, and greater literacy means bigger income and better health in the long run. That’s why your child’s pediatrician will give you a book at the annual checkup, and encourage you to read together every day.

What’s next?

In a year, you will have more offices to visit here. A patient employment program is in the works. Community engagement worker Cian Knights started her job recently, meeting with local agencies to find out what other holes in the social safety net the health-care team might stitch up.