520 - Impact of an Inpatient Social Needs Screening Program: Did Our Referral Resolve Your Need, and If Not, Why Not?

Friday, April 28, 2023

5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET

Poster Number: 520
Publication Number: 520.116

Yonit Lax, Maimonides Children's Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Emma Yost, Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn, New York, NY, United States; Angelica M. Pacheco, Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY, United States; Jennifer Gutterman, Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn, East Brunswick, NJ, United States; Melvin Mathai, Maimonides Infants and Children's Hospital of Brooklyn, New Hyde Park, NY, United States; Md Fahim, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine, Jamaica, NY, United States; Alexandra Coria, Maimonides Children's Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Yonit Lax, MD (she/her/hers)

Chief Pediatric Community Health, Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics
Maimonides Children's Hospital of Brooklyn
Brooklyn, New York, United States

Background: Screening caregivers for unmet social needs in the pediatric inpatient setting is becoming more common. We screen families admitted to our pediatric floor for 12 social needs. For unmet needs, we provide referrals to community partners via paper handouts. It remains unclear whether this practice impacts families’ social needs.

Objective: To evaluate family-reported benefits and challenges after receiving inpatient social needs referrals through examining: 1) ability to connect to the resource; 2) resolution of social need after referral; and 3) barriers to connection and support.

Design/Methods:

This is a retrospective cohort study of a convenience sample of patients discharged from our pediatric inpatient unit from 10/2021 to 6/2022 who screened positive for an unmet social need and received a referral to a community resource. We conducted a telephone survey from July to September 2022 inquiring about patient perception and experience with social care referrals.

Results: We screened 957 caregivers for social needs. 409 (43%) screened positive for an unmet need. 91% (371) of positive screens were referred to community resources; we called 294 and successfully surveyed 133 (response rate 45%). These 133 caregivers had 292 referrals documented by the medical team. 57% (166/292) of caregivers did not connect to the community resource. Reported reasons were: losing the referral (33%); inability to reach someone (30%); not receiving the referral (25%). 126 caregivers connected to the resource, of whom 84% (106) reported it was helpful. For 69% (87/126) the social need was resolved. Of 31% (39/126) for whom the resource did not resolve the need, 22 (56%) said it took too much time and effort, 13 (33%) said the service was not helpful and 3 (8%) did not qualify for services. 57% (166/292) of referrals were given to families with limited English proficiency. Chi-square tests found no significant association between English proficiency and: connection to resources (p=0.179); perceived helpfulness of resources (p=0.798); or resolution of the problem (p=0.321).

Conclusion(s): Caregivers with unmet social needs identified by an inpatient pediatric team reported difficulty connecting to referred resources, though many reasons may be modifiable (lost referrals, do not remember being referred). Language was not a central barrier to connection or success with social resources. When caregivers connected, they usually reported resolution of the need. Further research can elucidate whether this pattern varies by need.