Description

Social Care Specialists: Implications for Social Work Practice in Addressing Social Determinants of Health in a Medical Setting

Social determinants of health represent a wide range of non-medical factors that have a significant impact on patient health outcomes. Despite having the highest healthcare expenditures across the globe, the U.S. consistently has poorer population health outcomes than its peers.

Payers are beginning to ask healthcare organizations to engage patients in social care. Healthcare systems have turned to social needs screening as a first step towards integrated medical and social care. Accurate patient data is critical to fostering investments in social care activities, however, patients have been reluctant to allow medical providers to step into the lived social experiences that impact their health outcomes. These factors are compounded by medical providers’ need to focus on volume and efficiency at the point of care occurs at a cost of relationship building. Addressing social needs in a medical context will require the recalibration of patient-centered care and doing that will require new investments.

The social work profession is well positioned as a specialist in social care but organizations will need payer reimbursement support to take courageous steps in meaningful social care. Social workers can provide cost-minded social care solutions that drive improved data collection and targeted relationship-based care services that are nimble enough to meet the complex and continually changing needs of individuals and communities. The findings from this capstone project contribute to the developing knowledge base for improving health equity and patient health outcomes.

Learning Objectives:

1. Increase knowledge about social determinants of health (SDOH).
2. Improve the understanding of social needs screening and its implications for healthcare organizations and the patients they serve.
3. Inform healthcare leaders, policy makers, and other key stakeholders in addressing social determinants of health.

Delivery Method: Live Interactive Training via Zoom Video Conferencing

Credit Hours: 1.0 (ACE)

Target Audience: This conference is intended for social workers and students.

 

Accreditation: University of Kentucky College of Social Work, Provider # 1377, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/29/22-9/29/25. Social workers participating in this conference will receive up to 15 general continuing education credits.

Claiming CE Credit: Instructions for claiming CE credit will be disseminated at the beginning of each session.

Questions: If you have any questions regarding CE credit or to report a grievance, please contact Melissa Whitaker at melissa.whitaker@uky.edu. For technical assistance, please contact lmshelp@uky.edu.