The Use of Telemedicine for Screening and Addressing Social Needs in a Primary Care Pediatric Population in Brooklyn,...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Social needs (SN) screening is crucial for patient well-being.
• The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated social needs among patients.
• Innovative care delivery models are needed to address rising social needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze temporal changes in social needs.
• To compare the effectiveness of routine in-person care versus a hybrid tele-social and in-person care model for addressing social needs.
• To evaluate the impact of interventions on food, housing, legal, and benefit needs.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cohort study comparing an intervention group (tele-social care + biannual in-person) with a control group (routine annual in-person care).
• Intervention group received SN screening and referral via telephone outreach.
• Repeated-measures logistic regression with generalized estimating equations analyzed changes in social needs.

Main Results:

• Social needs, including food and housing, increased during the pandemic's onset and decreased after interventions.
• The intervention group showed a 32% decrease in odds of food insecurity (aOR 0.668) and a 75% decrease in housing insecurity (aOR 0.247).
• Tele-social care led to greater improvements in social needs compared to routine care, especially for food and housing.

Conclusions:

• Hybrid tele-social care models are effective in mitigating social needs during public health crises.
• Interventions significantly reduced food and housing insecurity.
• Integrating tele-social care into primary care enhances patient support and addresses social determinants of health.