As many of you know, being able to vote has an impact on individual patients’ health. Voting rights are considered a social determinant of health. The ER created a new program to address this. Beginning 9\/14\/22, the ED Population Health Social Determinants of Health screeners started screening ED patients for voter registration and will begin assisting interested patients with registering to vote in NJ. This initiative has the support of Cooper leadership, was approved by our legal team, and should not affect or delay patient care.<\/p>\n
Just two months ago, the American Medical Association declared that voting is a social determinant of health. Camden\u2019s voter registration rate is 64%, which is 3 points below the national average and 10 points below New Jersey\u2019s average. Actual voter participation in Camden is even worse – showing just a 46% participation rate for the 2020 presidential election, and only a 16% participation rate for the 2021 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Both of those rates are at least 20 points below the New Jersey average.<\/p>\n
Please remember that if you are talking to patients about their civic health, it MUST<\/u><\/strong> be done in a non-partisan way<\/u><\/strong> in accordance with laws related to Cooper\u2019s nonprofit status. Link here<\/a> to helpful website with Dos and Don\u2019ts for 501(c)(3)s.<\/p>\n Our Pop Health SDOH screeners are staffed in our ED M-Th 9-6:30 & Fri 12-3. This new initiative will show our patients that we are committed to their overall<\/u> well-being: their mental, physical, social, and now, their civic<\/u> <\/strong>health.<\/p>\n Dr. Kate Ginty is available for questions.<\/p>\n NJ voter registration deadline: October 18th<\/sup> 2022. Link to register here<\/a>.<\/p>\n PA voter registration deadline: October 24th<\/sup> 2022. Link to register here<\/a>.<\/p>\n