Show Notes
Every time a patient comes to the Emergency Department (ED) for care, there is an opportunity to identify and address factors in their life that may be contributing to their presentation. Social determinants of health (SDOH), including housing instability, access to transportation, economic hardship, and access to healthcare, are the non-medical aspects of a person’s life that influence their health. In today’s episode, Kristie Foster, Director of Nursing Operations at Mt. Ascutney Hospital in Vermont, joins host Dr Christina Shenvi to discuss the screening programme she implemented at her critical-access ED.
At the heart of the SDOH screening programme is Kristie’s focus on compassionate care. It starts with a personal, conversation-based approach in which ED technicians use a simple checklist to identify common needs. When a need is identified, a three-tiered approach is initiated to connect patients with resources that can address those needs. Tune in to learn more about how the screening programme works in practice and hear stories from this successful intervention.
Additional resources for this episode can be found at https://gedcollaborative.com/resource/what-matters/bringing-the-heart-back-to-medicine-by-addressing-social-drivers-of-health/.
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