Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32228564›Full record

ArticleBMC international health and human rights2020

Expanding the role of paralegals: supporting realization of the right to health for vulnerable communities.

Albert Wirya, Ajeng Larasati, Sofia Gruskin, Laura Ferguson

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC international health and human rights, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Albert WiryaLembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute), Tebet Timur Dalam VI E No 3, Jakarta, 12820, Indonesia. awirya@lbhmasyarakat.org.
Ajeng LarasatiLembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute), Tebet Timur Dalam VI E No 3, Jakarta, 12820, Indonesia.
Sofia GruskinLembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (Community Legal Aid Institute), Tebet Timur Dalam VI E No 3, Jakarta, 12820, Indonesia.
Laura FergusonUSC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, University of Southern California, 2001 N Soto St, Los Angeles, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAll around the world, the paralegal program prepares members of marginalized communities to face the legal system. Having a common background with their clients and being capable of conducting flexible work, paralegals' role moves beyond enlarging the beneficiaries of legal aid to addressing intersectional issues around health-related rights. This study assesses the health and other impacts of paralegals recruited by Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat (LBHM), a human rights organization which provides legal assistance and operates in Jakarta, Indonesia. The positive results these paralegals can bring in the specific context can contribute to the development of community-based paralegals elsewhere.

methodsThis mixed methods research was carried out in 2016-2018. In 2016, a quantitative survey was administered to LBHM-trained paralegals and a sub-set of paralegals who completed the survey were then also interviewed. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS, and, for the qualitative data, thematic analysis was conducted.

resultsThe paralegals make important contributions to health-related rights in four distinct ways. Firstly, most of the paralegals checked their clients' health in all stages of detention, especially regarding their drug dependency status and checking for signs of torture. Secondly, paralegals help clients to be more aware of their health-related rights, especially regarding their rights to obtain health services inside detention. Thirdly, paralegals can ensure that their clients obtain health services by taking medicines directly to the clients or encouraging the law enforcement agencies to refer the clients to health services. Lastly, in drug cases, paralegals help their clients to obtain alternative sentences besides imprisonment.

conclusionsThese four contributions verify the positive impacts paralegals, recruited from marginalized communities, can deliver for community members facing criminal justice processes. The shifting role of paralegals from merely an intermediary between clients and lawyers to champions of the health-related rights of their clients can happen as a result of adequate training, support, and networks with other agents in criminal justice system.

Indexed as

Right to HealthVulnerable PopulationsCriminal LawHealth Services AccessibilityHuman RightsHumansIndonesiaJailsMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesAccess to justiceLegal empowermentParalegalRight to healthVulnerable communities

Identifiers

PMID32228564
PMCPMC7106642

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.