What's the effective model for community-based clinics?
A patient-centered study that informs the service design for community-based primary care clinics in regions with significant health disparities.
Project Type: Field Research | Date: March - May 2022 | Team: ID Equitable Healthcare Action Lab, IIT | My Role: Primary research, Analysis & Synthesis
Context
The Chicago ENCOUNTER project (nursE ruN COmmUNiTy Effective pRimary care) aims to study a novel primary care model deployed in 32 nurse-run clinics and programs in Chicago to evaluate how the model delivers community-effective care to populations with significant health disparities.
To learn how this model works, the ENCOUNTER study partners with three proven-effective clinics that have unique patient populations and community contexts. The Sue Gin clinic at Oakley Square, one of the three clinics, becomes the object of this research.
Sue Gin Health Center is located within the Oakley Square apartment complex in Chicago’s Near West Side. 90% of the residents are black people.
Sue Gin is open to patients of all ages, regardless of their insurance. Children, female residents, and grandparents are the main patient groups.
Research Goal
As a first step in developing the community-effective primary care model, this research aims to document the current components of Sue Gin's care model and analyze their impact on services.
Insights
Based on more than 40 hours of field observations covering all of Sue Gin's working hours, we have summarized the five key elements that make Sue Gin thrive in the community.
Residential Space
The clinic offers an extremely accessible one-stop experience that serves the various needs of the patients. The shared space works as a great medium to communicate with the residents.
Nurse Staffing
Nursing students play a key role in increasing clinic capacity and supporting clinic innovation. Student schedules also greatly influence clinic operations.
Flexible Medical Service
Because Sue Gin appointments are not time-bounded and the clinic is very accessible, patients can easily go to providers for both brief questions and multiple health concerns.
Interpersonal Relationship
Sue Gin's providers have more touch points with patients than traditional clinics. Providers can understand the context of patients’ life and how it affects their health.
Extended Impact
Sue Gin’s partnership allows it to influence the larger communities. The words from acquaintances and personal involvement through community events make people trust the clinic before their first visit.
Design Impact
As the first field research of the ENCOUNTER study, our patient-centered approach and findings help lay the foundation for future work. These service elements can be tailored and designed to generate a desirable and scalable community-centered model.
Check out the full report here