Crossroad Health Center - OTR

Shawn Krishnan, Summer 2018

According to the National Academy of Medicine, medical care only accounts for 10-20% of the modifiable contributors to healthy outcomes for a population. The other 80-90% of health outcomes can be attributed to social determinants of health (SDH). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines social determinants of health as the “conditions in which people are born, work, grow, live and age and the wider set of forces and systems shaping the conditions of daily life.” This means that so much of what we learn in medical school, whether that be how to diagnose an illness, the pathologies of certain diseases, or the countless anatomical structures, is barely beginning to scratch the surface when it comes to taking care of our patients. So, how can we possibly begin to address all of the other aspects of a patient's health? This is why I found my summer at Crossroad Health Center (CHC) so rewarding. CHC is located in the heart of Over-the-Rhine, a neighborhood that was once labeled “the most dangerous neighborhood in America” before it underwent a massive gentrification effort. While these efforts made OTR more appealing to visitors, they also left plenty of OTR residents without homes or basic resources. These are the people that CHC serves. According to CHC's 2017 Annual Report, 61.3% of their patients fall below the poverty line. While the patients at CHC have several medical needs, they also have several needs in their community. Amanda Ojugbeli and I ended up screening 122 patients for needs in the areas of housing, food, transportation, utilities, and interpersonal safety. During these interactions, we identified a significant amount of patients who had a need. However, more importantly, I learned just how resilient the people of this community are. There is often a common narrative that many individuals living in poverty simply wait for hand-outs and assistance to get them out of poverty. That narrative could not be further from the truth. The patients at CHC are consistently challenged with so many barriers — and each barrier forces them to work harder and harder. I met numerous patients who struggled daily to get food, make it to their work with reliable transportation, and ensure the well-being of their families. Yet, every day, they worked as hard as possible to make ends meet and they consistently succeeded. After this summer, I've gained such an admiration for the patients at CHC, so many of whom live with struggles that I cannot imagine. My work at CHC has furthered my passion to help those in need and give back to the Cincinnati community.