Most cases involve the need for income support with public benefits
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Bedside legal assistance may be one solution for addressing legal needs of patients recovering from violent injuries, according to a study published online Oct. 16 in JAMA Network Open.
Elizabeth L. Tung, M.D., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues examined the legal needs and access to public benefits among patients enrolled in Recovery Legal Care, a bedside medical-legal partnership that supports patients recovering from violent injuries. The analysis included 516 participants who underwent legal needs screening and assessment from Nov. 16, 2022, to Nov. 11, 2024, with follow-up of financial benefits through June 30, 2025.
The researchers found that among screened participants, 94.8 percent had at least one legal need, including most frequently income (89.3 percent), housing (64.3 percent), and employment (59.5 percent) needs. More than eight in 10 participants (88.1 percent) reported needing assistance with at least one of the benefits (income, housing and utilities, education and employment, legal status, and personal and family stability), with one-quarter reporting barriers to accessing benefits in the past (e.g., denial). During the study, 694 legal cases were opened among 457 participants referred for legal intake, including cases involving needs related to public benefits, criminal records expungement, employment, and housing. Nearly six in 10 cases closed (58.9 percent), with nearly one-third (32.8 percent) involving direct legal representation with financial benefit, yielding a total lump sum financial benefit of $264, 068.10 and an annualized financial benefit of $482, 997.60 in recurring payments to patients.
“Most of the time, when people talk about recovery from violent injury, they’re thinking medical care,” coauthor Tanya Zakrison, M.D., also from University of Chicago, said in a statement. “But what if a patient is about to be evicted, or can’t feed their children, or can’t get a job because of an old criminal record? Unless we address those financial and legal needs — the root causes that predispose individuals to violence in the first place — healing can’t really happen.”
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