SEPTEMBER NEWSLETTER | 2021
Whole-Person Care: The Big Picture
Behind the Scenes of Whole-Person Care
Looking back over the last 15 years I’ve served at Siloam Health, I see the presence of Jesus inside and outside of the exam room. When I was introduced to Siloam, I was a medical student working with Dr. Wills and was immediately drawn to how present he was with each patient. It felt fresh and authentic in a way I wasn’t experiencing in my other rotations because I saw the true expression of serving the “whole-person” via a staff that intentionally created space to check-in with patients’ physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. This is what whole-person care means to me. It’s a privilege to care for our population of underserved, uninsured, and culturally marginalized individuals — those in pain, who have experienced trauma, or are trying to stay healthy for their families. At Siloam, I have time to sit with patients and learn how their unique life stories impact their health. As a provider, I’m part of the process of health and healing, but thankfully I do not work alone as I humbly recognize I cannot fix everything. Siloam has a team of people that can spend more time with patients to identify resources to help lift the burden of their suffering. Rebecca Swift, Siloam’s
Behavioral Health Consultant, assists with mental health referrals, our pastoral care volunteers pray with clients, and our social worker, Kate Ferrell, helps patients navigate systems. We all share the love of Jesus in our different roles, but the result is the same; our patients get the care and attention they deserve. Serving the whole-person means believing all patients are image bearers of God, and by listening to their stories we make a way for God to heal. Join me in reflecting on Jeremiah 30:17, which reads, “I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.” With your support and prayers, we care for the needs of the patients that visit Siloam and our faithfulness delivers healing when it’s needed most. In the following pages we are delighted to share updates on what whole-person care looks like throughout every part of Siloam Health. Joyfully, Kristin Martel, MD
A New View of Health Care: Abdual’s Story Abdual’s friends told him about Siloam Health after he lost everything and moved his family from Iraq to Nashville. As a new American without access to health insurance, getting what he needed to stay healthy and manage his diabetes became almost impossible. He needed to find a new primary care doctor but soon found out he couldn’t afford to do so or even fill his diabetic medication prescriptions. After his first visit to Siloam, he was surprised by the level of care he received from each member of the staff. “This is not real. It feels like we are not in a medical center, but that we are just family,” he said. “This is the best medical care I’ve ever had.” A native Arabic speaker, Abdual shared that not even a language barrier interfered with the genuine attention Dr. Kristin Martel provided as she took the time to be friendly and fully understand his needs during his last check-up. “I know Dr. Martel cares about my physical health, but she cares about more than that,” he relayed. “It’s not just about the medical things; she also cares about the spiritual and emotional side of me, which helps put me at ease.” For Abdual, receiving whole-person care started as simply trying to manage his diabetes but quickly moved beyond that to address all the facets of his well-being. Dr. Martel helped him connect with fellow Arabic speakers from Iraq to address his feelings of isolation in America, which also relieved some anxiety and stress. Siloam Health’s Patient Relations staff helped educate him on COVID-19 and even scheduled his vaccination so that he could safely interact with his community again. Together, Siloam’s team made a positive difference in his health and happiness — a difference Abdual isn’t shy about sharing with others. “I take every opportunity to tell my friends to go to Siloam to find the friendliest medical care,” he said with a smile. “They care about every part of you.”
Writing the Script for Future Doctors: Emily’s Story Ensuring patients get whole-person care continues with training the next generation of providers to integrate spiritual well-being and cross-cultural understanding into their work — a process all too familiar to Emily Camp, MD. Through the Vanderbilt University Internal Medicine program, her interest in primary care and serving underserved populations led her to Siloam Health in 2018. During her three years at Siloam’s Melrose clinic, she saw firsthand it is much more than a health care facility; Siloam is a community that values other aspects of wellness in addition to physical health. “Siloam is a safe place for patients who have lived through unimaginable hardship,” Emily voiced. “They welcome patients with open arms and recognize that there is much more to health than just medical care.” Care for other critical components of the wholeperson includes addressing spiritual, emotional, and mental well-being. Working with Siloam, Emily got to see the positive impact attending to those needs can have on patients.
“I experienced whole-person care every day I worked at Siloam,” she said. “Together, we recognized the importance of faith in healing, and offered prayer and spiritual support to patients of all faith backgrounds.” Siloam makes whole-person care such a priority it often influences medical students/future doctors like Emily to take the practice with them long after they pursue their careers in medicine. Helping to reshape what will be the experiences of all their future patients, Siloam shares lessons and triumphs in cross-cultural care as a way to continually invest in how tomorrow’s medical providers care for those who are uninsured, underserved, and culturally marginalized.
Featured photo taken pre-COVID-19.
Acting for the Good of Our Neighbors: Community Health Community Health Workers (CHWs) help Siloam Health extend the image of whole-person care outside the walls of its clinics. By empowering patients with the tools needed to help navigate everything from general stress to resources for housing, employment, and beyond, CHWs demonstrate how other aspects of patients’ lives can impact their health. Amy Richardson, Siloam Health’s Chief Community Health Officer, said addressing topics like these has proven to correlate with positive patient health outcomes time and time again. “As members of the communities they work with, CHWs are especially equipped to look at the patient’s whole life and walk beside them to help them get better,” she shared. “Physical care is important, but we should always consider the emotional, mental, and spiritual needs of the patients as well that could lead to the source of healing the physical need.” The strength of Siloam’s Community Health Worker program lies not only in its relationship to the communities served, but also the community partnerships developed to expand its positive impact.
Community Partnerships Siloam’s partnerships with Metro Health Department, Conexión Américas, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), and others continue to be a powerful tool to help address pressing health-related needs of the city’s immigrant and refugee populations — including vaccination readiness. Our collective goal remains finding ways to more easily connect with and serve the unique health needs of Nashville’s underserved and culturally marginalized communities. Statewide Presence Siloam Health is part of launching the Statewide Community Health Worker Association alongside Meharry-Vanderbilt Alliance, Le Bonheur Health Systems, Ballad Health, the State of Tennessee, Anthem Health, and many others invested in extending the reach of CHWs in Tennessee. With a goal of bridging the gaps between health care providers and the underserved communities who need them most, Siloam is proud to work with partners determined to improve the health care landscape by using respected and welltrained members of communities to address health disparities.