American journal of preventive medicine
-
Spurred by accumulated evidence documenting how social determinants of health shape health outcomes as well as the push for better value, the healthcare sector is embracing interventions that address patients' health-related social needs. An increasing number of healthcare organizations and payers are experimenting with strategies to identify needs and connect patients to resources that address identified needs with the goal of improving health outcomes, reducing avoidable utilization of costly health services, and improving health equity. Although many studies link social factors to health, relatively little published research exists about how the healthcare sector can effectively intervene to help identify and address social needs. ⋯ SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled Identifying and Intervening on Social Needs in Clinical Settings: Evidence and Evidence Gaps, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
-
The U. S. lags behind other developed countries in the use of indices and novel reimbursement models to adjust for social determinants of health (SDH) in medicine. This may be due in part to the inadequate body of research regarding outcomes after implementation of healthcare payments designed to address SDH. ⋯ SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled Identifying and Intervening on Social Needs in Clinical Settings: Evidence and Evidence Gaps, which is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Kaiser Permanente, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
-
During the past 2 decades, gun owners have become more likely to store household firearms loaded and unlocked, and believe that guns make homes safer rather than more dangerous. ⋯ Gun owners who are most likely to assert categorically that firearms in the home make homes safer are, as a group, far more likely to store guns in their home loaded and unlocked.
-
This study sought to empirically evaluate whether the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act increased smoking cessation among low-income childless adult smokers. ⋯ The Medicaid expansion did not appear to improve smoking cessation, despite extending health insurance eligibility to 2.3 million low-income smokers. Greater commitments to reducing barriers to cessation benefits and increasing smoking cessation in state Medicaid programs are needed to reduce smoking in low-income populations.
-
Sports and physical activities are a frequent cause of traumatic brain injury, primarily concussions, among adolescents. These concussions may adversely affect students' ability to learn and impair academic achievement in educational settings. ⋯ School-based programs are needed to monitor students' academic performance and provide educational support and resources to promote academic success following a concussion.