NAVIGATING THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM DURING REENTRY BY ASHANTY REECE Care Navigator The Fortune Society
When I meet with new clients at The Fortune Society as a Care Navigator, I introduce The Care Management Unit’s (CMU) services as a resource to help them navigate their healthcare. CMU promotes “preventative care,” medical services to prevent illnesses, diseases, and any other medical emergency. This is done by connecting clients to medical professionals who will help them manage their medical diagnosis and avoid any severe medical conditions leading to the emergency room or hospitalization.
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My responsibilities as Care Navigator closely align with the definition of “navigation”—finding and following a path through a difficult place, and dealing effectively with a complicated situation. For most of CMU’s clients, learning how to get professional medical care can be just that—difficult and complicated. This is where the CMU team steps in to help. Our formerly incarcerated clients have often only been exposed to healthcare professionals during confinement and some of those encounters were traumatic. The clients shared that sometimes their diagnoses are not thoroughly looked at and the
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medications prescribed often do not resolve the issues. Clients also shared that although healthcare providers do not educate them on their diagnosis or the medications prescribed, they take what is provided to them. They do not question or feel as if they have a voice to do so. This has resulted in the worsening of their mental and physical health, as many have been wrongfully diagnosed or medicated. Once released, formerly incarcerated individuals have to deal with a healthcare system that can sometimes feel more like the legal system when trying to navigate it alone. Sometimes they face barriers that encourage them
