Elena Byhoff, MD, MSc, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine speaks with David Schleifer, PhD, the director of research at Public Agenda, a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and public engagement organization. This conversation is the third in a series focused on health care sector efforts to increase Awareness about both patient and community-level social conditions. Drs. Byhoff and Schleifer discuss their respective research studies examining patients’ and caregivers’ perspectives about the acceptability of social risk screening in the context of clinical care settings and explore the common question, “Should I screen for a social need I can’t address?”

Recommended references:

• De Marchis EH, Hessler D, Fichtenberg C, et al. Part I: A Quantitative Study of Social Risk Screening Acceptability in Patients and Caregivers. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Dec;57(6 Suppl 1):S25-S37.
• Byhoff E, De Marchis EH, Hessler D, et al. Part II: A Qualitative Study of Social Risk Screening Acceptability in Patients and Caregivers. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Dec;57(6 Suppl 1):S38-S46.
• Public Agenda. It’s About Trust: Low-Income Parents’ Perspectives on How Pediatricians Can Screen for Social Determinants of Health. 2019.