MLPB Releases Aging and Health-Related Social Needs Learn-and-Action Lab Phase 2 Summary Report

  • 11 Jul 2024

CTC-RI is excited to share the recently released MLPB report summarizing insights and recommendations gained from its Phase 2 Aging and Health-Related Social Needs Learning-and-Action Lab. The project, made possible through generous funding from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Community Health Fund (BCBSRI’s advised fund at the Rhode Island Foundation), was designed to inform and improve clinic-based health-related social needs (HRSN) screening, referral, and problem-solving strategies impacting older adults who live in Rhode Island.

The Phase 2 lab brought together 13 older adult participants from Phase 1 of the project with new participants representing clinical practices located throughout Rhode Island including physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, medical assistants, and community health workers. Over five sessions which took place between September 2023 and January 2024, participants learned from experts in the fields of anti-racism in medicine, strengths-based screening in health systems, and policy to support older adults in Rhode Island. Each session included opportunities for older adults and clinical practitioners to reflect, react, and share ideas about HRSN screening practices in clinical settings.

Finally, the group came together to collectively share the following insights and recommendations for improving health-related social needs screening for older adults.

Insights:

  1. The health-related social needs that matter most are the ones that matter to the patients.
  2. Understanding the context for health-related social needs screening can significantly improve the experience and effectiveness for patients.
  3. Effective health-related social needs screening both requires a trusting relationship between the patient and healthcare practice and presents an opportunity to build one.
  4. Despite divergent incentives and expectations, older adult and provider participant groups often vocalized similar challenges in, and potential fixes to, health-related social needs screening.

Recommendations:

  1. Ensure adequate time for older adults to talk with someone on the healthcare team about their health-related social needs.
  2. Build shared language and skills among all practice members to communicate the process and rationale of health-related social needs screening to patients.
  3. Empower entire healthcare practices to create a culture of trust between patients and all members of the team, not solely their primary provider.
  4. Protect time and space for providers and team members to better connect with the communities they serve and to co-create solutions to persistent problems.

Click here Aging and Health-Related Social Needs Learn-and-Action Lab Phase 2 Summary Report to read the full Phase 2 summary report. Join us at the CTC-RI Annual Conference to hear more about lessons learned from the MLPB Aging and Health-Related Social Needs Phase 1 and Phase 2 Learning-and-Action Labs! Click here to register for the CTC-RI Annual Conference.