@article{10.22454/PRiMER.2020.225894,
author = {Bickerton, Lucy and Siegart, Nicolle and Marquez, Crystal},
title = {Medical Students Screen for Social Determinants of Health: A Service Learning Model to Improve Health Equity},
journal = {PRiMER},
volume = {4},
year = {2020},
month = {10},
doi = {10.22454/PRiMER.2020.225894},
abstract = {Introduction: Medical schools are now required to address health disparities within their curriculum, with a recent emphasis on social determinants of health (SDOH). However, there is scant evidence that incorporating educational experiences around SDOH impacts health equity for patients. The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique setting to engage students to address SDOH directly with patients.
Methods: The authors designed a service-learning experience in which medical students conducted a patient needs assessment survey by phone to assess SDOH in the domains of health care access, economic stability, and social cohesion. We drew descriptive statistics from a deidentified Excel database of call outcomes to quantify health care interactions and community resource referrals generated by callers.
Results: The call outcomes revealed unmet health and social needs among the patient population and generated a substantial number of actions to improve health care access and awareness of community resources.
Conclusion: The results of this project show that employing medical students to engage with SDOH through action-oriented service learning positively impacts health care access and referrals to community resources. This initiative provides a flexible model to engage medical trainees in addressing health-related social needs that can be applied to a range of clinical settings and learner levels.},
URL = {https://journals.stfm.org//primer/2020/bickerton-2020-0035/},
eprint = {https://journals.stfm.org//media/3460/bickerton-primer2020225894.pdf},
}