What We Do
Mission Statement
SCOPE Patient Health Advocates (PHA) is a student-led organization partnered with UCLA Health dedicated to addressing the health inequities in the Los Angeles community. Specifically, PHA works to address social determinants of health by increasing the accessibility to community resources both within clinical and non-clinical spaces. All members are trained to compassionately casework individuals independently to connect them with personalized community-approved social services. This organization envisions a world where resource access no longer creates health disparities.
In the clinic, PHA volunteers work alongside physicians at UCLA Medicine-Pediatrics Comprehensive Care Center in Santa Monica and the UCLA Center for Behavioral & Addiction Medicine to address their patients' social determinants of health. After each clinic visit, volunteers talk individually with patients and discuss, if any, their social needs and resource knowledge. Then, the PHA volunteer will perform an intake with the client and begin discussing what support can look like for them. Using trauma-informed care practices alongside motivational interviewing, PHAs find personalized resources that meet each client’s specific needs. This workflow, developed in partnership with UCLA Health physicians, stems from the understanding that everyday living conditions and social factors are the root causes of health issues.
In the non-clinical sphere, SCOPE PHA has partnered with multiple community organizations to increase access to resources in underserved communities. So far, we have established a regular presence at Vituity Cares, a free clinic on Skid Row, as well as at St. James Soup Kitchen, in downtown LA. This is part of a larger effort to bring our caseworking services to communities and areas that may benefit from a root causes-based approach, and is in line with our mission of bringing care to people and meeting communities where they are at.
Going forward, through our caseworking services and collaborative efforts in our project teams, we hope to continue to expand our impact into the broader LA area, thereby helping individual people identify and mitigate the risk factors in their lifestyles and bring a greater awareness of this root causes-centered approach to healthcare.
History
Patient Health Advocates (PHA) was one of four programs that comprised the larger organization, SCOPE at UCLA. SCOPE — which stands for Students for Community Outreach, Promotion, and Education — was established in the summer of 2003 as an effort between medical students, public health graduate students, and undergraduates to provide more comprehensive care to patients at UCLA Health 200 Medical Plaza. Our program was founded under the guidance of pediatric physician Dr. Alice Kuo, MD, PhD. Dr. Denise Nunez, MD, MPH, serves as our current advisor.
Originally Resource Desk, the program was later renamed and restructured as Patient Health Advocates. Now an independent student organization, PHA remains a collaborative endeavor between undergraduate caseworkers and UCLA physicians to provide underserved patients with personalized community resources. Therefore, a training curriculum focused on relevant public health topics is taught to new caseworkers every fall. The course not only prepares caseworkers for one-on-one interactions with patients but also provides an understanding of the social determinants of health that impact health.
Patient Health Advocates currently serves patients at the UCLA Medicine-Pediatrics Comprehensive Care Center in Santa Monica.
In the future, Patient Health Advocates hopes to expand its patient outreach and continue empowering communities across Los Angeles.
Community Outreach
In addition to volunteering at UCLA Health, PHA is actively involved in various community-led initiatives for underserved populations. Through these efforts, we seek to promote health equity for communities across Greater Los Angeles. While collaborations may be spearheaded and managed by different project teams, all PHA members are invited to participate.
At monthly free clinics hosted by Vituity Cares Foundation, physicians, volunteers, and community leaders provide medical care and food to the unhoused population in Skid Row. At these clinics, PHA volunteers provide caseworking services and affordable community resources.
St James' Saturday Soup Kitchen offers a buffet space for breakfast and lunch, clothing distribution, bathroom access, and a charging station for low-income and unhoused individuals. Our volunteers help both prepare and serve meals, while engaging with attendees.
PHA brings its services to free community health fairs, hosted by organizations like UCLA Asian Pacific Health Corps. To prepare for these fairs, our project teams develop resource pamphlets and informational flyers tailored to the needs of target populations.
Patient Health Advocates has seven project teams in place: Resource, Health Technology, Outreach, Finance, Community, Member Development, and Transitional Care. Each project is dedicated to improving a different aspect of Patient Health Advocates’ interactions with patients, physicians, and one another.
Community
Plans socials of all kinds (including book clubs!), organizes PHA's annual banquet, and supports activities to foster community within PHA.