Speaker
Description
Over 8 million patients who have experienced cancer face Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) challenges like food, housing, and financial insecurity that directly impact their health outcomes. While social distress screening has been useful for identifying social needs, patients cannot often fail to utilize resources. Therefore, we piloted a patient-centered social care referral platform to see if individuals experiencing cancer would be able to access social care programs provided to them by Community-Based Organizations.
We recruited 14 community organizations and 41 community members to participate in a 3-month pilot study. Community participants registered and consented to the study by using the application on their personal device. After registering, they completed a social needs assessment and were prompted to connect to organizations that could address these needs. Participants also participated in two user experience surveys at 30 and 60 days respectively, and upon completion of the study, participants were recruited to participate in a 30-minute interview.
Our results showed that community members reported needs in 14 categories in our assessment. The top 3 reported needs were physical activity, financial strain, and mental health. Using our social care referral platform, approximately 39% of community members were able to connect with Community Organizations. Patients self-reported that 82% enjoyed using the technology and 29% of them connected with a new CBO.
