Over the coming months, look for videos, stories and events that feature some of the many Wayne State initiatives and passionate individuals committed to eradicating health disparities. This content is part of WSU's Warriors in Action campaign highlighting how Wayne State is making a difference.
You return home from a doctor’s appointment or chemotherapy treatment to find an eviction notice on your door. This is a situation that a great deal of cancer patients are in fear of experiencing every day. When dealing with an illness such as cancer, patients may find it difficult to manage additional financial and environmental stressors.
When a patient’s focus shifts from fighting their disease to dealing with legal and financial issues — such as the loss of housing and lack of public benefits — their likelihood of getting healthier decreases. The Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer Clinic (LAPC) aims to lessen these stressors so that cancer patients in Detroit can get healthier, faster.
LAPC, which is a medical-legal partnership between the Wayne State University Law School and the Karmanos Cancer Center, provides free legal resources to low-income adult cancer patients in Detroit. Through this partnership, patients are able to gain access to legal resources in the areas of insurance, housing, employment benefits, long term planning and public benefits. These resources are invaluable to a patients overall well-being. It is unfortunate that a great deal of cancer patients in Detroit do not have access to them.
LAPC Director Kathryn Smolinski says that there is often an information gap that occurs.
“Sometimes patients don’t even know to go to their HR department and say ‘Hey, I think I signed up for disability, I need it now,'” says Smolinski. “My students and I have been successful in helping these patients understand their work benefits, and get them.”
Smolinski and her students often encounter clients who have previously been denied benefits. Through LAPC, patients are able to reapply for benefits such as social security and have adequate legal representation at their court hearings. Smolinksi says that it is always a triumph when the clinic can bring success to patients.
“We are really impacting our clients lives in a truly meaningful and practical way.”
For more information about Legal Advocacy for People with Cancer please visit law.wayne.edu.
There are two avenues in which students are able to get involved with LAPC. Masters of Social Work students are able to utilize LAPC as a field placement assignment. Also, students in the Wayne State University Law School are able to enroll in LAPC for course credit.