The Health Advocates are student and community volunteers who conduct standardized social and legal needs screening with families seen in our clinics.
Where can you find us?
Program staff are available Mondays through Fridays in the ZSFG Children’s Health Clinic and Women’s Health Center on Thursday afternoons in the Family Health Center.
Since launching the program in 2013 at ZSFG, the Health Advocates program has trained over 130 volunteers and served over 3500 families who otherwise might never have been had assistance with social needs during their visits to the hospital.
What is the ZSFG Health Advocates Program?
The ZSFG Health Advocates program improves the community's experience of care by training student and community volunteers to conduct standardized social and legal needs screening with families from our clinics.
Our trained Advocates then use resource algorithms and on-line resources to connect families with existing benefits programs (like CalFresh) or external community organizations (like food pantries and workforce development centers.) When volunteers encounter more complex issues--like family mental health issues or complicated legal challenges--they connect families with clinical social workers and/or lawyers who can provide additional professional advice and support.
The program not only benefits patients, but also our volunteers. We have between 30 and 40 volunteers working at any one time, providing over 40 hours of clinic coverage a week. Many volunteers are part of the minority health professional pipeline and come from the same community as ZSFG patients. As Health Advocates, student-volunteers gain invaluable hands-on experience working with patients in healthcare settings and opportunities for close mentorship with UCSF faculty.
Volunteer Testimonials
"A patient with whom I worked expressed concerns around basic necessities. She was in her third trimester and was worried about getting clothing and diapers for her baby and accessing childcare once she returned to work. After connecting her to the clinic nutritionist to get an appointment to enroll in WIC, we spoke about wraparound support options that might meet her long-term needs. I referred the patient to a local nonprofit, where she was to get some maternity clothes and meet her case manager. She was excited that when the baby was born she would be able to get diapers, a crib and possibly a stroller. The patient said she felt like she had a place to get support for whatever she needed and was really grateful for the referral."
