Social Needs Screening Tools Comparison Table (Pediatric Settings)
The SIREN team has compiled the content of several of the most widely used social health screening tools so that they can be easily compared. The table below summarizes characteristics for each tool, including their intended population or setting, the social health domains they cover, and the number of questions covering each domain. To view a specific screening tool in its entirety, click on the column heading. To compare questions used in different tools for the same domain, click on the row heading. Links inside the table cells will take you directly to the text of those specific questions.
The below table covers screening tools developed specifically for pediatric settings; to see our table comparing social needs screening tools for older adults or are non-age specific click here.
A note on validity: Inclusion of a tool below does not necessarily mean that the tool or the questions contained therein has been “validated”. While some questions and tools have been developed more rigorously than others and have some early evidence of validity,1-4 validity has many different dimensions (e.g., criterion validity [predictive, convergent], construct [structural]), and none of the tools below has been vetted through all steps of gold standard measure development or had all types of validity assessed. As data about tool validation become available, we will include them in the table below.
If you would like to suggest a tool for inclusion in this table, please contact us.
Download the table (combining adult and pediatric tools) as an Excel file.
iHELP | SEEK | SWYC | WE CARE | |
---|---|---|---|---|
# of Social Needs Questions | 14 | 9 | 9 | 6 - 15 |
# of Non-Social Needs Questions | 0 | 11 | 24 or 35 | 0 |
Patient or Clinic Population | Peds | Peds | Peds | Peds |
Reading Level* | 7th grade | 4th-5th grade | 10th grade | 9th grade |
Completion Time | NR | NR | 10 mins | <5 min |
Languages | Spanish, Chinese, Swedish, Vietnamese | Spanish, Burmese, Nepali, Portuguese, Arabic | ||
Scoring | N | N | N | N |
Cost | Free | Free | Free | Free |
Benefits | ||||
Caregiver Responsibilities | ||||
Childcare Access & Affordability | 2 | |||
Civic Engagement | ||||
Clothing | ||||
Disabilities | ||||
Education | 1 | 2 | ||
Employment | 2 | |||
Financial Strain | 1 | |||
Food Insecurity | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Health Care/Medicine Access & Affordability | 1 | |||
Housing Insecurity/Instability/Homelessness | 2 | 3 | ||
Housing Quality | 1 | |||
Immigration/Migrant Status/Refugee Status | 2 | |||
Incarceration | ||||
Income | ||||
Interpersonal Violence (IPV) | 1 | 3 | 2 | |
Literacy | ||||
Neighborhood Safety | ||||
Power of Attorney/Guardianship | 3 | |||
Social Support | 1 | |||
Stress | 1 | |||
Transportation | ||||
Utilities | 3 | |||
Veteran Status | ||||
Desire for Assistance/Urgent Needs | Integrated into "immigration"; see domain-specific questions | 1 | Asked for each domain; see domain-specific questions | |
Health Behaviors/Behavioral Health/Health Status | AA, MH, SA, TH | AA, DH, MH, SA, TH | AA, MH, SA, TU |