Addressing Social Determinants of Health: The Need for Provider-Community Collaboration

Date of Review: June, 2020

This resource is a whitepaper produced by the TMF Health Quality institute which describes the case for the necessity of and steps needed to address social determinants of health (SDOH) through health system/provider and community collaboration. It provides both legal requirements for doing so, as with caring for patients with limited English proficiency, and provides specific examples of institutions and providers addressing social determinants of health to improve outcomes. It provides specific steps to take towards addressing SDOH in a clinic and includes a link to the CDC’s seven phases of addressing SDOH in the community. This resource could be useful for those working with medical students or residents on a Quality Improvement Project or as part of a rotation developing resources to address a SDOH such as food insecurity or housing insecurity in their area. —Barb Bayldon, MD, NCEAS