June Research Round-Up

See below for a selection of publications recently added to the SIREN Evidence & Resource Library. As always, if you are aware of resources you think should be added to the Library please send them our way.
 

COVID-related social care interventions

Prescribing Paid Sick Leave—An Important Tool for Primary Care During the Pandemic
B.D. Sommers & B.E. Coburn
JAMA Health Forum
This commentary urges primary care physicians "prescribe" sick leave to COVID+ patients so they may benefit from a new federal law requiring some employers to pay for sick leave for COVID+ employees.

Prevalence of social risks and social care

Collecting Social Determinants of Health Data in the Clinical Setting: Findings from National PRAPARE Implementation
R. Chang Weir, M. Proser, M. Jester, et al.
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
This study summarizes the prevalence of social risks in 18 health centers that participated in PRAPARE implementation pilots. On average, patients screened positive for 7.2/22 social risk domains; the most common SDH risks were limited English proficiency, less than high school education, lack of insurance, high to medium-high stress levels, and unemployment.

The Prevalence of Social Care in US Health Care Settings Depends on How and Whom You Ask
Y. Cartier & L. Gottlieb
BMC Health Services Research
This synthesis of national surveys on the prevalence of social care activities in health care found a wide range of prevalence estimates for social risk screening and interventions, in part due to lack of consistency in how questions were asked.

Navigation interventions

A Pharmacy Liaison-Patient Navigation Intervention to Reduce Inpatient and Emergency Department Utilization Among Primary Care Patients in a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization: A Pragmatic Trial Protocol
K.E. Lasser, P.B. de la Vega, E.M. Ashe, et al.
Contemporary Clinical Trials
This trial among intermediate-cost adult patients will examine utilization impacts of navigation provided by a pharmacy liaison trained in motivational interviewing and social needs navigation.

Impact of an On-Site Versus Remote Patient Navigator on Pediatricians' Referrals and Families' Receipt of Resources for Unmet Social Needs
E. Messmer, A. Brochier, M. Joseph, et al.
Journal of Primary Care & Community Health
In this FQHC-based study, whether a navigator was on-site or remote at time of referral did not seem to affect the number of successful contacts between navigators and families or the proportion of families who enrolled in a resource.

An Evaluation of Connect for Health: A Social Referral Program in RI
E. Zhu, J.S. Ahluwalia, & M.B. Laws
Rhode Island Medical Journal
This qualitative evaluation of a social needs navigation program found that it alleviated some patient needs and helped reduce provider workloads, but lack of community resources to address needs limited perceived program effectiveness.

Effects of In-Person Navigation to Address Family Social Needs on Child Health Care Utilization: A Randomized Clinical Trial
M.S. Pantell, D. Hessler, D. Long, et al.
JAMA Network Open
This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial comparing in person navigation to a written resources handout found that children enrolled in the navigation group were significantly less likely to be hospitalized after the intervention but equally likely to have an emergency department visit. Also see the accompanying commentary by C.C. Kenyon, K.E. McPeak, & A.G. Fiks.

Care coordination and case management interventions / Complex care interventions

Measuring Complexity: Moving Toward Standardized Quality Measures for the Field of Complex Care
H. Bossley & K. Imbeah
National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
This report and the accompanying brief, Standardizing quality measurement in complex care, outlines recommendations for how to advance quality measurement for complex care programs.

Evaluation of a National Care Coordination Program to Reduce Utilization Among High-Cost, High-Need Medicaid Beneficiaries With Diabetes
O.K. Duru, J. Harwood, T. Moin, et al.
Medical Care
This interrupted time series evaluation of a care coordination program designed to reduce utilization among high-cost, high-need Medicaid beneficiaries found that the program was associated with fewer ED visits and hospitalizations for patients with diabetes in selected Medicaid programs but not others.

Social Determinants of Health and Emergency and Hospital Use by Children with Chronic Disease
C.C. Foster, T.D. Simon, P. Qu, et al.
Hospital Pediatrics
Over half of the caregivers of children with chronic disease enrolled in a case management program reported at least one social risk. Patients with previously unaddressed food insecurity had higher ED rates but not hospitalization rates. Also see the accompanying commentary by J. Tyris & K. Parikh.

Transitional Care Models for High-Need, High-Cost Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review and Gap Analysis
S. Hewner, C. Chen, L. Anderson, et al.
Professional Case Management
This scoping review of research on transitional care models for high-need, high-cost patients identified 19 studies published between 2008 and 2018. The majority of models combined characteristics of multiple case management models with varying levels of impact.

Housing interventions

Effectiveness of Permanent Supportive Housing and Income Assistance Interventions for Homeless Individuals in High-Income Countries: A Systematic Review
T. Aubry, G. Bloch, V. Brcic, et al.
Lancet Public Health
This systematic review and meta-analysis found that permanent supportive housing and income assistance interventions, particularly housing subsidies with case management, were effective in reducing homelessness and achieving housing stability, but their effects on mental health or employment outcomes were unclear.

Intimate partner violence interventions

COVID-19 and Intimate Partner Violence: A Call to Action
O. Zero & M. Geary
Rhode Island Medical Journal
This article describes the current state of IPV in Rhode Island as well as best practices for IPV screening and intervention using telehealth, with a particular focus on how healthcare providers can be responsive to the unique vulnerabilities of undocumented immigrant victims of IPV.

Intimate Partner Violence Screening in the Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Project
L. Karnitschnig & S. Bowker
Journal of Emergency Nursing
After instituting a training and EHR alert for IPV screening for emergency nurses, IPV screening rates did not increase but positive screens increased by 49% and referrals and resources provided to patients doubled.

Cross-sector partnerships & data integration

Integrating Community and Clinical Data to Assess Patient Risks with A Population Health Assessment Engine (PHATE)
P.G. Bambekova, W. Liaw, R.L. Phillips Jr, & A. Bazemore
The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
The authors describe how PHATE, a registry combining clinical records with neighborhood social deprivation data, can be used for public health surveillance, organizing clinical care around hot spots, patient risk assessment, and fostering connections between practices and community organizations.

Medicaid policy strategies

Inequities Amplified by COVID-19: Opportunities for Medicaid to Address Health Disparities
S. Patel & T. McGinnis
Health Affairs Blog
In this blog, the authors suggest ways that Medicaid agencies can help address health inequities, including through cross-sector partnerships, targeted outreach to communities of color, and demographically disaggregated data collection.

Marrying Value-Based Payment and the Social Determinants of Health through Medicaid ACOs: Implications for Policy and Practice
E. Tobin-Tyler & B. Ahmad
Milbank Memorial Fund
This report identifies three levers used by states to incentivize or require Medicaid ACO providers to address SDH: requiring providers to screen for social risks, requiring or incentivizing providers to partner with social service organizations, and requiring or incentivizing SDH quality metrics.

Provider perspectives

"The State They're In": Unpicking Fantasy Paradigms of Health Improvement Interventions as Tools for Addressing Health Inequalities
M. Mackenzie, K. Skivington, & G. Fergie
Social Science and Medicine
Interviews with primary care professionals administering a social prescribing program in Scotland revealed a range of beliefs about how social prescribing might reduce health inequities.