Grassroots Medicine

Gregory L. Weiss

doi:10.5771/9781461665380

Summary

This book describes the emergence of the free health clinic from its roots in the late 1960s and early 1970s, created by medical and lay social activists for young, alienated persons with substance abuse problems and by African American social activists for racial and ethnic minority groups. However, in the mid to late 1980s and 1990s, a second generation of free clinics began to develop rapidly in many different communities throughout the country, shifting their focus to the working poor and the uninsured. This growth has occurred with relatively little public attention and almost no scholarly investigation.

This book fills this gap in academia by delving into both the history of the free health clinic and the stories of the volunteers, staff members, and patients of the modern free health care clinic. Through countless research and hundreds of hours of recorded interviews, this book gives the reader a view into the free health care community, represented by 45 clinics—old, new, big and small—spread throughout 10 states and the District of Columbia. The book includes many quotations from the many interviews conducted by the author to provide an honest, passionate view of the free health care clinic from the frontlines.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2006
ISBN-Print: 978-1-122-33871-4
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4616-6538-0
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 202
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Preface No access
1. 1. 1. Community-Started No access
    2. Community-Directed No access
    3. Community-Funded No access
    4. Community-Supported No access
  2. Private and Nonprofit No access
  3. Volunteer-Driven No access
  4. Services Offered for Free or Token Payment No access
  5. Emphasis on Compassionate Care and Patient Dignity No access
  6. Targeted on At-Risk Groups No access
1. The Social and Cultural Background No access
2. 1. 1. Characteristics of the Early Hippie Drug Clinics No access
    2. Characteristics of the Early Neighborhood Clinics (Minority) No access
  2. The Struggles of the Early Free Clinics No access
3. 1. 1. The Founding of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic No access
    2. The Development of the Clinic No access
    3. The Free Clinics Today No access
  2. 1. The Founding of the Clinic No access
    2. The Development of the Clinic No access
    3. The Free Clinic Today No access
  3. 1. The Founding of the Clinic No access
    2. The Development of the Clinic No access
    3. The Clinic Today No access
  4. 1. The Founding of the Clinic No access
    2. The Development of the Clinic No access
    3. The Clinic Today No access
  5. 1. The Founding of the Clinic No access
    2. The Development of the Clinic No access
    3. The Free Clinic Today No access
1. The Early Years No access
2. The Shift in Focus to the Uninsured and Working Poor No access
3. 1. The United States Health Care System in Global Perspective No access
  2. The United States Health Care System No access
  3. 1. Medicare No access
    2. Medicaid No access
    3. The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) No access
4. 1. Huge and Rapidly Increasing Health Care Costs No access
  2. The Large Number of Uninsured Americans No access
5. 1. Who are the Uninsured? No access
  2. 1. The Definition of Poverty No access
    2. Low-Wage, No-Insurance Jobs No access
  3. Forecast for the Number of Uninsured No access
6. The Consequences of Not Having Health Insurance No access
7. 1. 1. Age No access
    2. Gender No access
    3. Income No access
    4. Race and Ethnicity No access
    5. Occupation No access
  2. Genuine Need for Services No access
1. The Early Years No access
2. 1. Change in Patient Population No access
  2. Best Interest of Patients No access
  3. Increased Stability of Clinics No access
  4. Greater Contributions to the Health Care System No access
3. 1. Community-Wide Perception of Problem No access
  2. Effectiveness of Free Health Clinics in Addressing the Problem No access
  3. Nonduplication of Services No access
  4. Efficient Use of Hospital Services No access
1. The Early Years No access
2. The Rise of the National Free Clinic Council No access
3. The Fall of the National Free Clinic Council No access
4. Years of Isolation No access
5. 1. The Virginia Association of Free Clinics (VAFC) No access
  2. The North Carolina Association of Free Clinics (NCAFC) No access
  3. Free Clinics of the Great Lakes Region No access
6. 1. Issues in Developing State and Regional Associations No access
  2. 1. Networking No access
    2. Fund-Raising No access
    3. Group Purchasing No access
    4. Public Awareness No access
    5. Data Collection No access
    6. Legislative Impact No access
    7. New Clinic Start-Up No access
1. The Founding of the National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) No access
2. Incorporation of the NAFC No access
3. Issues Regarding the NAFC No access
4. Development of the NAFC No access
1. Background of Nonprofit Agencies No access
2. Free Health Clinic Staff No access
3. 1. Volunteering in a Free Health Clinic No access
  2. 1. The Importance of Providing Health Care to All Persons No access
    2. Personal Accomplishment and Fulfillment No access
    3. Personal Growth No access
    4. Friendship and Sense of Bonding No access
    5. Faith-Based or Spirit-Based Reasons No access
    6. Wanting to Give Something Back No access
1. 1. Frustration, Resignation, Embarrassment No access
  2. A Sense of Entitlement and Lack of Appreciation No access
  3. Appreciation No access
2. 1. Labor Force Participation No access
  2. Patient Empowerment No access
1. 1. Federal Policy No access
  2. 1. State Health Policy Legislation No access
    2. State Purchase of Pharmaceuticals No access
    3. Changes in Medicaid No access
    4. Direct Support for Free Clinics No access
2. 1. The Aging of the Population No access
  2. The Increase in the Immigrant and Refugee Populations No access
3. Corporate, Foundation, and Public Support No access
4. 1. State and Regional Free Clinic Associations No access
  2. The National Association of Free Clinics No access
  3. Long-Standing Groups Supporting Free Clinics No access
  4. Alternative Volunteer-Based Organizational Formats for Serving the Medically Indigent No access
5. Conclusion No access
Bibliography No access Pages 189 - 196
Index No access Pages 197 - 200
About the Author No access Pages 201 - 202