Clinician perceptions of Medical-Legal Partnerships: Lessons for adopting social determinants of health interventions in health care settings

Despite burgeoning activity within the health care sector to address social determinants of health, recent surveys have shown that clinicians feel they lack the time and resources to tackle patients’ unmet social needs. Unfortunately, the literature offers few solutions to these barriers and little is known about the features of social determinants interventions that clinicians desire most. To better understand attitudes toward addressing patients’ social determinants, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 40 clinicians in health care settings where civil legal assistance is made available to patients through medical-legal partnership. Accessibility and on-demand services were valued above all else. Additional training on addressing social determinants was also desired. The majority of clinicians (78%) felt that the responsibility to address patients’ social determinants should be shared with others in the health care organization and community. Clinicians’ perceptions should be considered when adopting cross-sector, multi-disciplinary social determinants interventions in the care setting.