Research
Exploring Telehealth to Reach Immigrant Communities in Rural South Carolina
Physicians for Human Rights Student Conference 2019 - Harvard Medical School
ABSTRACT: The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Asylum Clinic offers forensic evaluations of asylum seekers to document the physical or psychological sequelae of trauma they have endured in their home country. Although these asylum evaluations are offered elsewhere in the region, we are the only group that conducts these interviews for free. South Carolina has a large population of migrant farm workers and asylum seekers living primarily in rural areas with minimal access to transportation. One potential solution to expand access to these services is telehealth. MUSC is home to one of the two National Telehealth Centers of Excellence in the country. MUSC’s Center for Telehealth works with clinicians and patients across South Carolina to provide services in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and schools. MUSC telehealth also offers Direct-to-Patient services, which allow providers to conduct patient interviews through a smartphone app. Considering that asylum evaluations have several complex components, provider availability, community partnerships, and funding for equipment are several factors that may impede development of this program. Leveraging telehealth to conduct psychological asylum evaluations may not only minimize travel time for our clients, but also better fit the needs of our population in South Carolina and perhaps provide a model for other rural regions in the country.
Physicians for Human Rights Student Conference 2019 - Harvard Medical School
South Carolina is one of the harshest environments for asylum-seekers in the United States. There are currently over 5000 asylum-seekers in the state with pending immigration hearings at the immigration court in Charlotte, NC. This court has one of the lowest rates of granting asylum in the country-6.1% in FY2018. South Carolina also has the lowest rate of legal representation for asylum-seekers in the country. The Medical University of South Carolina Asylum Clinic began seeing clients in April 2019 in an effort to increase the number of asylum-seekers granted asylum. At the clinic, trained clinicians document evidence of torture, trauma, and abuse and collaborate with medical students to produce an affidavit that is provided to clients’ attorneys to support their claim to asylum. Students also connect clients to services and resources in their communities for continuing care. Future goals include the development of a telehealth program in an effort to increase access for asylum-seekers in rural parts ofSouth Carolina and the evaluation of detained clients. The Clinic would also like to develop strategies to increase representation by evaluating unrepresented asylum-seekers and advocating for their representation on the strength of their evaluations. The Clinic is continuing to develop partnerships with organizations across the state to create a more robust support network for asylum-seekers.