Abstract

The purpose of this project was to determine if conducting a short, social determinants of health (SDOH) assessment identified one or more unmet needs, one or more barriers to care, and to assess basic awareness of social resources. Conditions affecting people where they work and live have a strong influence on health outcomes. Social complexity, meaning having one or more unmet need, is directly related to poorer health outcomes. Individuals marginalized by poor social capital, health inequities and ongoing disparities, especially those in low income populations, experience higher morbidity and mortality. These unmet needs also affect the shared-decision making process between patients and providers and make clinical interventions much less impactful. On the contrary, adequate social capital is associated with better health outcomes, especially related to chronic disease management.

Typically, there is no clinical standard of care regarding the use of an assessment tool to identify socially complex individuals. The implementation of a short, 10-minute survey in a free clinic for this project was both easy to implement and feasible to accomplish. The results of the survey demonstrated that the tool was effective at identifying unmet needs, barriers to care, and assessing for basic knowledge of community resources. Demographic data collected on the survey provided information on the potential connection between low social capital and unmet needs and barriers to care. As a result, clinical practice changes are needed to include a standard of care to assess for social complexity and develop targeted interventions to mitigate the effects of low social capital while improving collaboration between key elements of social and medical care.

Author Details

Maelene Schuhmacher-Omar, MA, BSN, RN (Primary Author); Kari Wade EdD, MSN, RN, CNE (secondary Author)

Sigma Membership

Tau Tau

Lead Author Affiliation

Nebraska Methodist College, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Descriptive/Correlational

Research Approach

Quantitative Research

Keywords:

Social Determinants of Health, SDOH, Social Determinants, Social Capital, Health Outcomes, Barriers to Healthcare, Socially Complex Individuals, Health Screening Tool

Advisor

Wade, Kari

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nebraska Methodist College

Degree Year

2020

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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Review Type

Faculty Approved: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

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