TY - JOUR
T1 - From Policy Statement to Practice
T2 - Integrating Social Needs Screening and Referral Assistance With Community Health Workers in an Urban Academic Health Center
AU - Fiori, Kevin
AU - Patel, Milani
AU - Sanderson, Dana
AU - Parsons, Amanda
AU - Hodgson, Sybil
AU - Scholnick, Jenna
AU - Bathory, Eleanor
AU - White-Davis, Tanya
AU - Wigod, Neal
AU - Chodon, Tashi
AU - Rich, Andrea
AU - Braganza, Sandra
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2019.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Purpose: Social and economic factors have been shown to affect health outcomes. In particular, social determinants of health (SDH) are linked to poor health outcomes in children. Research and some professional academies support routine social needs screening during primary care visits. Translating this recommendation into practice remains challenging due to the resources required and dearth of evidence-based research to guide health center level implementation. We describe our experience implementing a novel social needs screening program at an academic pediatric clinic. Methods: The Community Linkage to Care (CLC) pilot program integrates social needs screening and referral support using community health workers (CHWs) as part of routine primary care visits. Our multidisciplinary team performed process mapping, developed workflows, and led ongoing performance improvement activities. We established key elements of the CLC program through an iterative process We conducted social needs screens at 65% of eligible well-child visits from May 2017 to April 2018; 19.7% of screens had one or more positive responses. Childcare (48.8%), housing quality and/or availability (39.9%), and food insecurity (22.8%) were the most frequently reported needs. On average, 76% of providers had their patients screened on more than half of eligible well-child visits. Discussion: Our experience suggests that screening for social needs at well-child visits is feasible as part of routine primary care. We attribute progress to leveraging resources, obtaining provider buy-in, and defining program components to sustain activities.
AB - Purpose: Social and economic factors have been shown to affect health outcomes. In particular, social determinants of health (SDH) are linked to poor health outcomes in children. Research and some professional academies support routine social needs screening during primary care visits. Translating this recommendation into practice remains challenging due to the resources required and dearth of evidence-based research to guide health center level implementation. We describe our experience implementing a novel social needs screening program at an academic pediatric clinic. Methods: The Community Linkage to Care (CLC) pilot program integrates social needs screening and referral support using community health workers (CHWs) as part of routine primary care visits. Our multidisciplinary team performed process mapping, developed workflows, and led ongoing performance improvement activities. We established key elements of the CLC program through an iterative process We conducted social needs screens at 65% of eligible well-child visits from May 2017 to April 2018; 19.7% of screens had one or more positive responses. Childcare (48.8%), housing quality and/or availability (39.9%), and food insecurity (22.8%) were the most frequently reported needs. On average, 76% of providers had their patients screened on more than half of eligible well-child visits. Discussion: Our experience suggests that screening for social needs at well-child visits is feasible as part of routine primary care. We attribute progress to leveraging resources, obtaining provider buy-in, and defining program components to sustain activities.
KW - community health workers
KW - implementation
KW - improvement
KW - pediatrics
KW - quality
KW - social determinants of health
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U2 - 10.1177/2150132719899207
DO - 10.1177/2150132719899207
M3 - Article
C2 - 31894711
AN - SCOPUS:85077340482
SN - 2150-1319
VL - 10
JO - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
JF - Journal of Primary Care and Community Health
ER -