Episode 4 - Social Determinants of Health and Unmet Needs in the Emergency Department
Social Determinants of Health and Unmet Needs in the Emergency Department
Objectives:
- To introduce the concept of social determinants of health
- To outline the ways in which social determinants of health affect the practice of emergency medicine
- To highlight key reasons why emergency providers should care about social determinants of health
- Introduce ways in which emergency providers can effectively identify social issues that might be affecting their patients’ health
Take-home points:
- Try to avoid compartmentalizing your patients’ health. Social issues affect their health and you should take the time to identify and address them in the emergency department.
- Recognize when it is important to practice “slow medicine” and take the time to talk with your patients about how you can best help them.
- To change the culture of your department, first try to find, or create, impactful data. Then seek out funding to support your work. Data and funding will help garner support.
- Think about how you can make an impact on the population level. Be bold. Step outside your comfort zone and always do the right thing for the patient.
Additional resources:
A centralized website for all things Social EM, highlighting important literature, a library of social EM initiatives, and creating a network for the social EM community.
ACEP Social Emergency Medicine Section. https://www.acep.org/how-we-serve/sections/social-emergency-medicine/
SAEM Social Emergency Medicine and Population Health Section. https://www.saem.org/resources/social-emergency-medicine-and-population-health/research
"Inventing Social Emergency Medicine," supplement to Annals of Emergency Medicine
www.annemergmed.com/issue/S0196-0644(19)X0013-X
Anderson ES, Lippert S, Newberry J, Bernstein E, Alter HJ, Wang NE. Addressing social determinants of health from the emergency department through social emergency medicine. Western Journal of Emergency Medicine. 2016 Jul;17(4):487.
Alter HJ. Social determinants of health: from bench to bedside. JAMA internal medicine. 2014 Apr 1;174(4):543-5.
IDHEAL Social Emergency Medicine Teaching Modules. http://www.idheal-ucla.org/page-12/
Episode transcript
Contributors:
Ayesha Khan
Quincy Moore