How to Advocate for SDoH Screening in Healthcare

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To truly improve patient and community health, we must address non-medical needs that arise due to social determinants of health (SDoH), such as inequitable access to housing, transportation, and food that make it harder for people to stay healthy.

That’s where SDoH screening comes in.

SDoH screening is a questionnaire given to patients in a healthcare setting to help providers identify social needs. These include issues like financial hardship, housing, and food.

Patients can then be referred to helpful community resources.

You can use the new Salud America! Action Pack, “How to Advocate for SDoH Screening in Healthcare,” to launch SDoH screening in your clinic, hospital, or healthcare system!

The action pack, created by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez at UT Health San Antonio, has a conversation-starting model email, fact sheet, checklist on how to develop SDoH Screening, and a guide that reviews existing screening tools.

“SDoH Screening aims to help clinicians better understand patients, connect patients to community support, and spotlight the root causes of health inequities,” said Dr. Ramirez, director of the Salud America! Latino health communication program at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio.

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Why Do We Need SDoH Screening?

Where you live can have a big impact on your health.

Non-medical factors like where we are born, live, work, and age — known as social determinants of health (SDoH) — can influence health for better or worse.

Yet the U.S. has struggled to identify and help people with SDoH issues.

In the healthcare setting, SDoH Screening can help systems, hospitals, and clinics to identify and address health-related social needs at the individual level. It also has seven other big benefits.

See how SDoH Screening works for Nemours, FQHCs, and Dallas Children’s!

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How Does This Action Pack Help You Advocate for SDoH Screening in Healthcare?

The new Action Pack, “How to Advocate for SDoH Screening in Healthcare,” can help healthcare teams work to start or refine SDoH Screening in their settings.

Led by Dr. Ramirez, the Action Pack is a collaboration from the Salud America! program and the Avanzando Equidad de Salud: Latino Cancer Health Equity Research Center at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio.

The action pack has these three steps:

1. Start a Conversation for SDoH Screening in Your Healthcare Setting. Use a model email and guide to engage champions and stakeholders in your healthcare setting — from clinics to hospitals to healthcare systems — to start the conversation for SDoH Screening.
2. Go Through a Checklist to Develop an SDoH Screening Program. Use a checklist to help you think through all the considerations you and your team will need to explore as you develop an SDoH Screening program. You can also learn from others who have implemented screening.
3. Guide to Select/Adapt Your SDoH Screening Tool. Use a guide to select or adapt your SDoH Screening tool based on a review of existing SDoH Screening tools.

You can also get technical assistance from a Salud America! action pack coach, who can help customize materials and answer questions.

“SDoH screening can help clinicians and non-clinicians identify patients’ immediate social needs,” Ramirez said. “This gives them insight into the lived experiences of their patients, which is crucial for them to connect patients to relevant community resources.”

Find the full Action Pack at https://bit.ly/sdohpack.

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