Post-Identification Approaches to Addressing Health-Related Social Needs in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Primary Care Medicine

Background:

• Social determinants of health significantly impact patient well-being.
• Health systems are increasingly implementing strategies to identify and address health-related social needs.
• Existing research often focuses on specific interventions, leaving a gap in understanding the overall practices in primary care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the diverse methods primary care clinics employ to address health-related social needs.
• To understand the range of practices after initial identification and contact by frontline staff.

Main Methods:

• Conducted 12 semi-structured, in-person interviews with staff from 24 primary care clinics.
• Utilized purposive sampling for clinic and participant selection.
• Employed thematic analysis on transcribed interview recordings.

Main Results:

• Identified significant variation in how clinics address health-related social needs.
• Key areas of variation include personnel involved, referral processes, definitions of "resource" and "success," and barriers to community support access.
• Clinic practices differ widely after initial identification and contact by frontline staff.

Conclusions:

• Primary care clinic practices for addressing health-related social needs are highly variable.
• Standardization of interventions faces challenges in real-world application.
• Opportunities exist to enhance collaboration between health systems and community-based organizations.