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Resident documentation of social determinants of health: Effects of a teaching tool in the outpatient setting

M Patel, E Bathory, J Scholnick, T White-Davis, J Choi, S Braganza
Clin Pediatr

Social determinants of health (SDH) significantly affect the health of children and thus, screening is important in pediatric primary care. We assessed the use of a formal social history taking tool after a 2-phase intervention. The first phase (P1) was a teaching module describing SDH and community resources and the second phase (P2) consisted of visual reminders to use the tool. Patient charts (n = 322) were reviewed pre- and postintervention. Residents had higher documentation rates of Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program use and housing subsidies at post-P1 and at post-P(1 + 2) (WIC, P = .01 and P = .03, respectively; housing, P = .02 and P = .04, respectively), and higher documentation rates of food stamp utilization at post-P(1 + 2) ( P = .04), as compared with baseline. Implementation of a simple teaching tool in the outpatient setting enabled residents to document income benefits and housing. Further studies should be done to evaluate effective teaching methods to elicit other important SDH.

Patel M, Bathory E, Scholnick J, White-Davis T, Choi J, Braganza S. Resident documentation of social determinants of health: effects of a teaching tool in the outpatient setting. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2018;57(4):451-456.PMID: 28877598. DOI: 10.1177/0009922817728697.

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Publication year
Resource type
Peer Reviewed Research
Outcomes
Process
Population
Children and Youth
Health Care Professionals
Screening research
Yes
Social Determinant of Health
Not Specified
Study design
Pre-post without Comparison Group
Keywords