Page 43 - Healthcare News August 2021

Street-level View
PURCH Program Teaches Doctors How Outside Factors Affect Health
BCy MARK MORRIS
aleb Noone experienced plenty of class- room and lab work while in medical school, but he also learned how trans- portation can affect health.
Part of the curriculum for UMass Medical School – Baystate includes an initiative known as PURCH (Population-based Urban and Rural Community
Health), which is designed to help physicians improve patient interactions by working with community organiza- tions to better learn the issues people are facing. The first class to go through the program finished medical school in June.
For example, people who live in rural areas who do not own a vehicle can have trouble getting to a grocery store or a doctor appointment. Noone worked with the Quaboag Connector on an effort to help people with limited access to transportation in the Palmer and Ware area.
“We see a lot of people in the ER who have issues that could have been prevented with access to a primary-care physician and regular follow-up,” said Noone, who is cur- rently a resident in emergency medicine at Baystate Medi- cal Center. When people show up in the emergency room with a worse condition, he added, there is a misperception that they have chosen not to see a doctor earlier.
Colton Conrad has worked with Revitalize CDC to address homelessness among veterans.
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