Research

Health Care Without Walls aims to reduce all barriers to health care for the women we serve and to educate our peers and health policy experts on the methods and approaches that improve access to care. For more information, please contact us.

Some of our key projects:

“Evaluation of Bridges to Moms (2019)” & “Evaluation of Bridges to Moms: A Mixed Methods Study”

Initially completed in 2018 and most recently updated in March of 2020, the Institute of Community Health provided an external program evaluation of our Bridges to Moms program.  Both evaluations demonstrated positive impacts on maternal and newborn health outcomes following enrollment in our program.

“The Status of Homeless Women in Massachusetts: Are We Adequately Addressing the Social Determinants of Their Health? A White Paper from Health Care Without Walls”
There are rising numbers of homeless women in MA and not enough resources to take care of them. At the same time, the level of violence against these women is a public health crisis. We had to call this out.

“Shelter-based Health Care for Impoverished Women in Boston”
A cross-sectional survey of underserved women, utilizing structured interviews. Learn more.

“PCP (Primary Care Provider) Identification Project”
Determined where our patients have their established primary care providers (PCPs). Learn more.

“Aging in Shelters Collaborative – Advanced Care Coordination for Aging Homeless Women”
Chart review of 1800 women completed to determine age distribution in our single adult women’s shelters. Found 54% of the women we serve at our Wellness Centers are ≥ 50 years of age, 8% of the women are ≥ 70 years of age. This lead to the development of our first elder-care pilot program, the “Aging in Shelters Collaborative”, which over a two year period provided intensive care to 103 women age 55 and older. Learn more.

Homeless Women Care About Their Health
Review of the clinical records over a two year period showed documented instances that we consider “valuable alternative outcomes” that demonstrate the impact of our constant and familiar presence in improving health outcomes. We call them Milestone Events – intentional self-healing behaviors.

Traumatic Brain Injury in Domestic Violence Survivors
In collaboration with Dr. Eve Valera of MGH, an MRI study looked at underlying physical damage to white matter tracts related to domestic violence, possibly accounting for cognitive and executive functioning in survivors.

Robert Wood Johnson 2- year Survey Project
Roseanna Means, M.D., Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Health Care Without Walls, was honored by being named a Community Health Leader in 2010 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. As part of this recognition, Health Care Without Walls was given an award to complete a two-year survey project. The first study year illustrated the value of Health Care Without Walls health care and advocacy services for the poor and homeless women we serve, and the second year study evaluated the integration of a community health worker component to our health care delivery model.