When families do not request help: Assessing a social determinants of health screening tool in practice

Introduction: Using pediatric social determinants of health screening data from a large medical system, we explored social needs dislosures and identified which needs were associated with resource connection requests. Method: Data came from records of outpatient pediatric patients (0–18 years) seen between October 2018 and March 2020 (39,251 encounters). We assessed percent of encounters where families (1) indicated a social need, and (2) requested a resource connection. We conducted multivariable logistic regression to identify which needs were associated with resource connection requests. Results: Among all encounters, 8% indicated a need and 2% requested a resource connection. Among families indicating a need, needs associated with resource requests included: housing (odds ratio [OR], 3.49 [2.42–5.03]), employment (OR, 3.15 [2.21–4.50]), food (OR, 1.89 [1.41–2.52]), and transportation (OR, 1.82 [1.30–2.56]). Discussion: Families seldom requested resource connections to address social needs. Better understanding families’ interests in receiving assistance is an important next step in pediatric social determinants of health screening system development.