What Are We Missing? SEEKing Expanded Support for Health-Related Social Needs

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Primary Care
• Public Health
• Social Determinants of Health

Background:

• Psychosocial screening is inconsistently applied in pediatric primary care, often excluding older children.
• The safe environment for every kid (SEEK) approach is typically used for families with children under 5.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare screening outcomes and interventions of an expanded SEEK approach for children aged 0-17 with its usual application for those under 5.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of expanded psychosocial screening across different age groups and insurance types.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 450 caregivers of children aged 0-17 years who completed screening between April and December 2021.
• Screening results were compared across age categories (0-5, 6-11, 12-17) using statistical methods including the exact binomial method and Fisher's exact test.

Main Results:

• The prevalence of identified psychosocial problems was similar across age groups, with notable exceptions for stress and substance misuse.
• Publicly insured families reported higher rates of stress and partner violence compared to privately insured families.
• Interventions were offered to 61% of participants with positive screens.

Conclusions:

• Expanding the SEEK approach to psychosocial screening for children aged 0-17 enhances the detection of social needs.
• The expanded SEEK screening facilitates resource provision for all age groups and insurance types, improving pediatric primary care.
• This study highlights the importance of universal psychosocial screening in identifying diverse family needs.