Additional SDOH Resources

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Health disparities & SDOH resources

The following resources are suggested by the AOA’s Bureau of Osteopathic Research and Public Health for additional information on health disparities and social determinants of health (SDOH).

Health disparities resources

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

• 2019 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
  Learn about the progress and opportunities for improving healthcare quality and reducing healthcare disparities. Chartbooks on topics including access to care, patient safety and healthy living provide more detailed information. In addition, downloadable slides are available for presentations.
• Priority Populations
  Find information regarding delivery of care for low-income individuals, minority groups, women, children, the elderly and individuals with special health care needs.
• AHRQ Data Highlight Inequities Related to COVID-19 Hospitalizations and How Vaccination Prioritization May Affect Equity

National Institutes of Health

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s premier medical research agency. NIMHD’s work touches the lives of millions of Americans burdened by disparities in health status and health care delivery, including racial and ethnic minority groups, rural populations, populations with low socioeconomic status and other population groups.

• National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities
• The State of Health Disparities in the United States

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

• CDC Health Disparities Topics
  Information on populations identified to be at-risk for health disparities. Includes lists of COVID-19 articles on health equity and webinars on health equity.
• National Center for Health Statistics
• Health Equity Considerations and Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
• Health Equity: Promoting Fair Access to Health

Office of Minority Health – Think Cultural Health

Find information, continuing education opportunities, resources and more for health and health care professionals to learn about culturally and linguistically appropriate services, or CLAS. Launched in 2004, Think Cultural Health is sponsored by the Office of Minority Health.

• Advancing Health Equity at Every Point of Contact

National Academy of Medicine

• Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Administration

• Double Jeopardy: COVID-19 and Behavioral Health Disparities for Black and Latino Communities in the U.S.

Additional Publications

• How to Help Someone with Anxiety or Depression During COVID-19
• Hospitalization and Mortality Among Black Patients and White Patients with COVID-19

Social determinants of health resources

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

• Social Determinants of Health: Know what Affects Health
  Find CDC resources for SDOH data, research, tools for action, programs and policy. All materials are for use by professionals in public health, community organizations, research organizations and health care systems to assess SDOH and improve community well-being.

Healthy People

• Healthy People 2030
  One of Healthy People 2030’s overarching goals is specifically related to SDOH: Create social, physical and economic environments that promote attaining the full potential for health and well-being for all. In line with this goal, Healthy People 2030 features many objectives related to SDOH. These objectives highlight the importance of “upstream” factors, usually unrelated to health care delivery, in improving health and reducing health disparities.
• Healthy People 2020
  The Social Determinants of Health topic area within Healthy People 2020 is designed to identify ways to create social and physical environments that promote good health for all.

Rural Health Information Hub

• Social Determinants of Health in Rural Communities
  Provides evidence-based models and resources to address social determinants of health in rural communities.

Screening tools for social determinants of health

National Association of Community Health Centers

• Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks and Experiences tool
  This tool includes 15 core questions and five supplemental questions. The data can be directly uploaded into many electronic health records as structured data. It is generally administered by clinical or nonclinical staff at the time of the visit, but a paper version can be provided to the patient to self-administer.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Accountable Health Communities

• Health-Related Social Needs Screening Tool (AHC-HRSN)
  A 10-question screening tool from the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, intended to be self-administered.

Additional tools

• Addressing Food Insecurity: A Toolkit for Physicians
  Toolkit providing guidance on incorporating the food screening process in to practice workflow, choosing the right tool and intervening to help address food insecurity.
• Strengths-based Approaches to Screening Families for Health-Related Social Needs
  Provides recommendations to guide strengths-based screening for health-related social needs.
• What are ACEs and how do they Relate to Toxic Stress?
  This infographic explains how to reduce the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress.
• Screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma
  This technical assistance tool provides various approaches and considerations for screening adults and children for ACEs and trauma.
• Fostering Resilience and Recovery: A Change Package for Advancing Trauma-informed Primary Care
  This report includes effective strategies provider care providers can implement to improve the health and resiliency of individuals with history of trauma.

Background information on social determinants of health

• Meanings and Misunderstandings: A Social Determinants of Health Lexicon for Health Care Systems
• Social Determinants of Health-Related Needs During COVID-19 Among Low-income Households With Children (October 2020)
• COVID-19 and the Impact of Social Determinants of Health (May 2020)
• Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in Promoting Health and Health Equity (May 2018)