Student doctor highlights rural homelessness as part of international meeting

Judy Mourad is among a group of student doctors, at Campbell University and throughout the world, working to bring attention to rural homelessness.

Mourad, a third-year student doctor at the Jerry M. Wallace School of Osteopathic Medicine, represented her Campbell team during the 22nd Annual International Street Medicine Symposium in Halifax, Nova Scotia, held Sept. 27-30.

Mourad and third-year Dr. Veronica Butler are co-founders of the Campbell University Street Medicine initiative, an outgrowth of the Community Care Clinic, which is run by students who oversee and drive the program, albeit with some faculty oversight. Second-year student Drs. Megha Pb and Sindhoor Ambati currently run the day-to-day operations of Campbell's street medicine initiative.

They, along with Butler, were part of the team that developed the research poster, "Invisible in Rural Spaces: Building Street Medicine Outreach for Unsheltered Populations in a Resource Limited Rural County," which Mourad presented at the Nova Scotia conference.

Their work focused on efforts to introduce the street medicine model in Harnett County. How a student team can adapt street medicine to a community with limited resources.

"One of our biggest hurdles was simply finding the people we hoped to serve," Mourad says.

"Homelessness is often associated with urban settings, but in rural communities people may be spread across large geographic areas, living in wooded or hidden locations and disconnected from formal services."

One of the most meaningful parts of the experience, Mourad says, was listening to presenters with different perspectives, including psychiatrists, social workers and people who experienced homelessness.

"Their stories were incredibly impactful and gave me a deeper understanding of the considerations involved in caring for this population. Hearing directly from people who have experienced homelessness especially reinforced the importance of listening, building trust and understanding each person's circumstances when providing care.

The approach of the Campbell team centered on building relationships with people and organizations that already knew and supported those affected by homelessness. The university, Mourad says, has partnered with community organizations such as Big Blessings by Blessingway and Crossing All Borders Ministry, as well has engaged local stakeholders including paramedics and the local health department.

"These connections helped us reach people through familiar, trusted networks and connect medical care with existing resources for food, basic necessities and ongoing support," she says.

"I appreciated being able to discuss the challenges we encountered and the importance of community partnerships with others working toward similar goals. The experience reinforced how much we can learn from one another while adapting our approach to the needs of our own communities."

The International Street Medicine Symposium (ISMS), its website says, is the world's premier educational event dedicated to the health care of rough-sleeper and unsheltered homeless populations.

"Each year, ISMS offers an impressive slate of homeless health care experts from around the globe presenting clinical topics, innovations, research outcome, and best practices relevant to street medicine through the popular format mix of large-group lectures, interactive small-group presentations and workshops and poster presentations," the groups says.

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