Screening for basic social needs at a medical home for low-income children.
The goals of this cross-sectional study were to (a) describe the prevalence of 5 basic social needs in a cohort of parents attending an urban teaching hospital-based pediatric clinic, (b) assess parental attitudes toward seeking assistance from their child's provider, and (c) examine resident providers' attitudes and behaviors toward addressing these needs. Parents (n = 100) reported a median of 2 basic needs at the pediatric visit. The most common was employment (52%), followed by education (34%), child care (19%), food (16%), and housing (10%). Most parents (67%) had positive attitudes toward requesting assistance from their child's pediatrician. The majority of resident providers (91%) believed in the importance of addressing social needs; however, few reported routinely screening for these needs (range, 11% to 18%). There is great potential for assisting low-income parents within the medical home. Further practice-based interventions are needed to enhance providers' self-efficacy to screen and address low-income families' needs at pediatric visits.
Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. agarg@tuftsmedicalcenter.org
Arvin
A
Garg
Arlene M
AM
Butz
Paul H
PH
Dworkin
Rooti A
RA
Lewis
Janet R
JR
Serwint
D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D011203:Poverty; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult