Physician Education May Help with Social Determinants of Health, Leading to Better Health Outcomes for Patients
Recently, the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions published an article in the almanac about addressing social determinants of health through independent medical education (IME). According to the article, health disparities are linked to social determinants of health (SDOH), which have an impact on access to healthcare, adequate housing, transportation, and healthcare services. Further, evidence is noted to support “the significant effect of nonmedical factors on overall physical and mental health,” including a patient’s ZIP code, social support, education, and income inequality.
Erika Brechtelsbauer, PharmD, BCPS, notes in the article that IME “can be leveraged as a tool to heighten awareness and address the needs of [health care professionals] seeking to reduce the impact of SDOH on patient outcomes at the individual, practice and system levels.” By using medical education, experts are able to come together that represent different specialties and professions, sharing their experiences with addressing various SDOH and providing implementable strategies that health care professionals can bring back to their practices.
Dr. Brechtelsbauer notes, too, that in any educational setting on SDOH, it should include “adequate time and opportunities for faculty engagement with learners, as there are many considerations and perspectives on the issues.” In other words, SDOH medical education should not be just one-directional from the teacher to the learners, but instead a collaborative conversation, led by the educator who can share experiences, successes, and challenges, but also involvement with the learners.
When it comes to developing medical education to address SDOH, educators should incorporate both medical and non-medical association literature on the subject, says Dr. Brechtelsbauer. The education should include activities to improve knowledge and competence in identifying and screening for SDOH at patient visits, as well as identifying and eliminating implicit bias, and have a focus on communication skills.
Dr. Brechtelsbauer further notes that educational efforts focused on competence and performance around screening and assessment tools and telemedicine would be beneficial to actually reducing disparities. Additionally, improving interprofessional and multidisciplinary collaboration needs to be emphasized.
Dr. Brechtelsbauer concludes by noting that actually closing the gap in disparities at high levels – meaning as small as an entire healthcare system or as large as the national level – “may be challenging to address” through just medical education, but the IME platform can help provide necessary resources to learners that want to take action and be part of the solution. Education that is high-quality and targeted toward solutions designed to meet the needs of health care professionals in their daily practices is one of the many ways a profound impact can be made on both the treatment and outcomes of patients at greatest need.