Health Insurance Programs, Extended Social History Taking, and Resources to Overcome Health Care Barriers:...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Disparities
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Medical students often lack formal training in recognizing social determinants of health and addressing healthcare barriers.
• Students demonstrate a desire to understand health policy but have insufficient knowledge of healthcare legislation and insurance.
• Current information sources for medical students on these topics are largely outside formal medical education.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce an easily implemented toolkit for medical education to address gaps in understanding social determinants of health and health insurance.
• To enhance students' ability to identify patient barriers to care and connect them with necessary resources.

Main Methods:

• A classroom activity was conducted during the first inpatient medicine clerkship for fourth-year BA/MD students.
• The activity included instruction on taking a comprehensive social history and a lecture on government insurance.
• An interactive, case-based discussion facilitated the development of a resource list for patients.

Main Results:

• Thirty-seven students participated in the pilot program.
• Post-activity surveys showed increased student knowledge of insurance programs and self-perceived skills in identifying barriers and arranging resources.
• 94% of students intended to apply the learned skills and knowledge in future clinical rotations.

Conclusions:

• The developed resource offers an introductory, interactive learning tool for health insurance, social history taking, and addressing healthcare barriers.
• The toolkit requires minimal resources and can be customized to fit various medical school curricula and learning objectives.
• This initiative aims to better equip future physicians to manage health disparities and social determinants of health.