Community HeLP Clinic wins top prize in Combatting Senior Hunger in Georgia – Creative Solution Awards

Abstract

Students in the Community Health Law Partnership Clinic, directed by Assistant Professor Jason A. Cade, recently won first place and $500 in a contest sponsored by UGA’s College of Public Health Institute of Gerontology. The effort sought to recognize creative solutions to combat senior hunger in Georgia.

The Community HeLP Clinic’s winning entry focused on the implementation of a single streamlined process to assist older adults at senior housing communities with applying for Medicare, food stamps and an underused deduction for out-of-pocket medical expenses, which is intended to help persons receiving food stamps who are disabled or at least 60 years old.

To develop the idea, the clinic partnered with Georgia Cares, the Athens Community Council on Aging and local attorney Nancy Lindbloom from the Georgia Legal Services Program. Clinic students successfully piloted the program with Kristi Bates, a Medicare specialist with Georgia Cares, at a senior housing residence in Athens.

The law students involved in various aspects of developing, implementing or writing up the project were: second-year students John E. Farmer Jr., Mary S. Honeychurch, Christopher D. “Chris” Johnson, Clayton C. McClain and Laney J. Riley; and third-year students Pedro Dorado, Alessandro F. Raimondo and Ashley A. Rudolph.

The award committee called the Community HeLP Clinic’s proposal “brilliant,” and committee members praised the clinic’s guidance and recommendations for best practices and implementation statewide.

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