Helping Chicago’s Homeless Sets Apart UIC Public Health Student

What did you do last summer? Most people would have fit in a beach vacation, a European excursion or a few of Chicago’s famed street festivals.

But for Kathryn Langley, a grad student at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, last summer was about helping Chicago’s homeless and elderly people.

“I feel it is important to provide resources to older adults, especially those in need, because I think we, as a community, ought to take care of one another,” she said.

The work Langley did during her summer internship last year earned her the 2009 Public Health Student Worker of the Year Award, given annually by the Illinois Public Health Association. The award recognizes an individual or group of public health students each year for making a significant contribution to the public health movement through community service.

“The scoring criteria was based on the level of effort of the individual, the impact and importance of the work and the positive public health image that was promoted through the individual’s leadership,” said Denise Henkel, HIV prevention program consultant at IPHA.

During her graduate studies in health policy and administration, Langley served as a health services intern for Deborah’s Place, a supportive housing agency for the homeless and formerly homeless women in Chicago.

“In one of my classes the semester before my internship, we had a few lectures about Medicare and Medicaid,” Langley said. “At Deborah’s Place, I was able to learn what the eligibility requirements and services covered by these programs actually meant to individuals they were designed to help. I was also able to gain first-hand knowledge of long-term care facilities. These experiences complemented my coursework and gave me an even better idea of what public health was in practice.”

At Deborah’s Place, Langley helped facilitate the “Elderly Transition Planning Project,” funded by the Retirement Research Foundation. The project was created to help find resources and set policy for women who were not eligible for state and federal aging programs, or for those who required more medical attention than Deborah’s Place could provide.

“The project was prompted by a Chicago study that showed ‘the graying of the homeless,’ where people were experiencing homelessness at later ages,” Langley said. “Many of these individuals were aging more quickly. At 45, for example, a homeless person may have health problems that we expect of someone in his or her 60s.” As part of the project, Langley, along with staff members from Deborah’s Place, participated in a task force, collecting information at the city, state and federal level to create a resource binder. At the IPHA Annual Meeting on April 30 at the Hilton Chicago Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale, president of the IPHA, Richard Sewell, presented Langley with the award, and described her work as a great service to the community.

“The goal was to find resources and to set policy for women who were not eligible for state and federal aging programs or required more medical attention than Deborah’s Place could provide. Ms. Langley developed a resource binder for the agency sites, held focus groups, and participated in site visits at nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The resource binder she created will continue to assist workers in matching women with available resources,” Sewell said. Langley said the binder includes helpful resources, important applications and notes on her site visits.

“We wanted to make sure we had plenty of information and choices to share with tenants and case managers for the women who were ready to transition from Deborah’s Place to facilities that would be better able to meet their growing needs,” Langley said.

As for her plans this summer, community service will always play a part.

“While I am still job-hunting, I learned of the role of Senior Health Insurance Program counselors through this internship. I have a strong interest in volunteering for this program after graduation,” she said.

-- Tina Daniel

Richard Sewell, president of the Illinois Public Health Association, presents the Student Worker of the Year Award to Kathryn Langley at the IPHA Annual Meeting.