Mr. Kusner is 2021 MD candidate at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 39 – No 06 – June 2020
Dr. Dean is an emergency medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital/Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Dr. Martin is faculty at the Center for Social Justice and Health Equity at Massachusetts General Hospital.
References
- Desliver D. US trails most developed countries in voter turnout. Pew Research Center website. Accessed May 20, 2020.
- Oltman A. Why voter turnout is so low in the United States. Jacobin website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- Americans’ domestic priorities for President Trump and congress in the months leading up to the 2020 election. Politico website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- KFF health tracking poll. Kaiser Family Foundation website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- Augustine JJ. The latest emergency department utilization numbers are in. ACEP Now. 2019;38(10):36.
- Hawryluk M. Why hospitals are getting into the housing business. Medscape website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- Cullen D, Blauch A, Mirth M, et al. Complete eats: summer meals offered by the emergency department for food insecurity. Pediatrics. 2019;144(4):e20190201.
- File T. Who votes? Congressional elections and the American electorate: 1978–2014. United States Census Bureau website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- Voting and voter registration as a share of the voter population, by race/ethnicity. Kaiser Family Foundation website. Accessed May 20, 2020.
- File T. Voting in America: a look at the 2016 presidential election. United States Census Bureau website. Accessed May 18, 2020.
- Liggett A, Sharma M, Nakamura Y, et al. Results of a voter registration project at 2 family medicine residency clinics in the Bronx, New York. Ann Fam Med. 2014;12(5):466-469.
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2 Responses to “Emergency Departments Can Help Get Patients Registered to Vote”
July 1, 2020
NeilI find the idea of voter registration in the ED a little unsettling. I do not think that emergency departments are the right venue for introducing voting registration. As an emergency department, we should be taking care of the sick as our primary challenge. We do this fairly well knowing that HIV testing, domestic abuse, substance abuse, human trafficking, etc falls through the cracks. At times we are struggling to form a safety net for medical health and basic needs. Should we also be a safety net for social health?
I hate to start a slippery slope argument, but I already try to avoid uncomfortable patient conversations whether they start off with: “Can you believe what Trump tweeted today…” versus “Biden had another senior moment…” With these conversations already I put on a smile, nod my head, and try to steer the patient back to determining when their crushing chest pain started.
As an emergency department, we are already been dealing with an incredible amount of social issues in which we struggle to get the resources for let alone voter registration. Lets focus on emergency medical needs, immediate social needs, and then worry about everything else when we get that right.
July 5, 2020
Brian LevyIt’s not our job. It’s also not ACEP’s role to promote this type of initiative.