Residents in Fergus, Elora and Arthur can now stay close to home and still keep their appointments with the community legal clinic in Guelph.
Through the Ontario Telemedicine Network (OTN) at their local Family Health Team office, rural clients of the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County can see and speak with caseworkers without traveling to the city.
This new meeting method results from a partnership between the Guelph Community Health Centre, where the legal clinic is located, and the Rural Wellington Community Team in consultation with the legal clinic. The encrypted video chat system ensures clients’ privacy.
“Having access to the Telemedicine system to do clinical legal consultations is a big step forward in access to justice for rural low-income residents in Wellington County,” said Anthea Millikin, lawyer and executive director of the Legal Clinic of Guelph and Wellington County.
Legal appointments for clients living in Elora, Fergus and Arthur are held at each town’s local Upper Grand Family Health Team office. This eliminates the need to travel to Guelph or to the once-weekly clinics held in two County locations.
“Access to services, particularly because of lack of transportation, is the biggest barrier facing rural residents in Wellington County,” said Elsa Mann, team lead of the Rural Wellington Community Team (RWCT).
“By having services provided by secure video link, rural individuals will more easily access services. This will reduce the stress traveling out-of-town can cause.”
The OTN system also lets the client bring along a support person, such as their RWCT outreach worker, during their legal clinic appointment. Monica Dudley, Clinical Telemedicine Coordinator at the Guelph Community Health Centre, said the opportunity to offer the face-to-face Telemedicine program to rural clients in partnership with the legal clinic is very exciting.
“Through this partnership, clients have the opportunity to access timely, secure appointments with legal clinic staff while reducing travel time and cost,” said Dudley. “This enables the client to access services they may not have otherwise, and allows for the appointments to take place in their own community.”
RWCT identified distance and the intimidation factor as barriers that cause mental distress for rural clients meeting with legal service providers. Being able to attend legal appointments remotely eliminates those barriers for residents in Wellington County.
Easier access to legal support services also reduces the risk of harm to clients’ health, especially when they are dealing with precarious housing and income.
“The opportunity to use the Ontario Telemedicine Network system is grounded in social determinants of health,” said Millikin.
“If someone is at risk of eviction, their health is at risk.”