Social Determinants of Health

Learn about social determinants of health to better understand how they affect your patients. Some materials offer CME credits.

TMA

• The Complexities of Health Deserts (free CME)

Texas Health Steps

• Culturally Effective Health Care (free CME)
• Housing Instability
• Child Trafficking
• Interpersonal Youth Violence (free CME)

American Medical Association (AMA)

• AMA STEPS Forward: Addressing Social Determinants of Health (free CME)
• Social Determinants of Health: What They Are, What They Aren’t

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) audiobook

Milbank Memorial Fund: Meanings and Misunderstandings: A Social Determinants of Health Lexicon for Health Care Systems

National Academy of Sciences: Integrating Social Needs Care into the Delivery of Health Care to Improve the Nation's Health

Explore various policy positions and initiatives regarding social determinants of health.

Texas

• Texas Health Improvement Network
• Texas Managed Care Organization Social Determinants of Health Learning Collaborative

National

• AAFP: Advancing Health Equity by Addressing the Social Determinants of Health in Family Medicine (Position Paper)
• American College of Physicians policy paper
• Social Determinants Accelerator Act of 2019

Find out what TMA is saying about social determinants of health.

Texas Medicine Today

• TMA Can Take the Lead on Social Determinants of Health (September 2019)

TMA Blogged Arteries

• Texas Neighborhoods Worlds Apart in Life Expectancy (October 2019)
• Digital Communication Tools Can Help Address Health Care Disparities (May 2019)

Texas Medicine Magazine

• A Social Shift: COVID-19 Disparities Prompt Emphasis on Value-Based Care (September 2020)
• An Unfortunate Legacy: COVID-19 Reveals Long-Standing Health Inequities (September 2020)
• Implicit Bias in Prenatal Drug Testing (June 2020)
• The Power of Data: UTHealth Publishes Claims Statistics (May 2020)
• A New Understanding: Improving Care for LGBTQ Patients (September 2019)
• Addressing Health Disparities (February 2018)
• A Wealth of Information (November 2017)

Analyze databases to understand the impact of social determinants of health across various populations.

UTHealth Center for Health Care Data: The Health of Texas website provides data on variations in health care costs, utilization, quality, and SDOH in Texas. The center has received Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) designation as a qualified entity.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF): County Health Rankings & Roadmaps provides national data by state and county on a variety of factors, including socioeconomic, environmental, and safety factors.

Assess patient needs regarding social determinants of health to inform treatment plans and referrals to community services.

• AAFP The EveryONE Project Social Needs Screening Tool (long form) and AAFP Social Needs Screening Tool (short form)
• CMS: The Accountable Health Communities 10-question screening tool
• HealthBegins: Upstream Risks Screening Tool
• Kaiser Permanente: Your Current Life Situation survey
• National Association of Community Health Centers: Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE)
• OCHIN, Inc.: EHR-based data collection, summary, and referral tools
• Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network: Social Needs Screening Tools Comparison Table

Use these tools to help mitigate  social determinants of health that affect your patients.

• AAFP: Team-based care
• AMA: COVID-19 health equity resources
• American Academy of Pediatrics: Social Determinants of Health
• Care Coordination Quality Measure for Primary Care

Learn more about social determinants of health from professional health organizations.

• AMA Center for Health Equity
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Resource Center
• Center for Healthcare Strategies Better Care Playbook
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) SDOH
• CDC Health Equity Resource Page
• CDC Promoting Health Equity: A Resource to Help Communities Address Social Determinants of Health
• Episcopal Health Foundation SDOH
• Health Begins SDOH Resource Page
• National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Resources
• NAM Community-Driven Health Equity Action Plans
• NAM Culture of Health Program
• NAM Social Determinants of Health
• National LGBT Health Education Center
• National Rural Health Resource Center: Social Determinants of Health Resources
• Office of Minority Health resource center
• RWJF: Social Determinants of Health