Social drivers of health (SDOH) refer to the conditions in which people live, work, and play. SDOH are defined as external factors including social, economic, and educational factors as well as infrastructure and healthcare. SDOH can affect an individual's health outcomes, functioning, and quality-of-life. Research shows health outcomes are influenced by various elements such as genes, health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, and exercise), social and environmental factors, and access to healthcare.
SDOH exists at the individual and community level. In recent years, healthcare organizations have begun assessing patients' social needs to pilot interventions to help meet those needs. Organizations that take the time to learn about the communities where patients live, work, and play, have a better chance of helping patients make better health decisions by adapting recommendations to fit their lives.
ACCC has developed an educational initiative called Social Drivers of Health. The goal of this work is to partner with multidisciplinary cancer care teams, social workers, patient advocates, health equity experts, and other stakeholders to develop a screening tool for SDOH to be used in treating patients with cancer. This tool will help healthcare teams better identify potential factors that may hinder access to evidence-based cancer care and encourage equitable access to enrollment in and successful completion of a clinical trial.
"When we think about social support, something to consider is resources or training regarding caregiving. Something I think would be extremely beneficial for providers would be to include the caregivers in the patients' care and decision making. Our health is impacted by the people who we are close to, so bringing those social, cultural, and contextual factors into cancer care is very important." — Chiara Acquati, PhD, LMSW, FAOSW
"One of my biggest concerns is knowing the challenges that we have with distress screening. I want to make sure that we focus on resources to present to patients at the appropriate time. There might be various time frames that patients present with problems across multiple health systems. Once providers identify issues, there needs to be a responsibility for addressing them." — Terry Portis, RN, BSN, MBA
"There are community level safety and social justice issues that interfere with people being able to focus on their cancer care and connecting with timely services. I think another factor would be comorbidity and accessing medications for side effects. We might have financial aid for cancer treatment, but patients don't always have access to finances or financial services to afford these medications." — Lailea Noel, PhD, MSW
"The two biggest challenges I see patients struggling with in practice are financial strain and low health literacy. It's incredibly challenging to navigate our complex health system. Making care more accessible for patients with low health literacy is how I first got interested in social drivers of health." — Sunil Kripalani, MD, MSc, SFHM, FACP
A comprehensive bank of over 200 nationally available resources—including publications, tools, videos, and other assets—curated for multidisciplinary oncology teams to identify and address social drivers of health factors and promote equitable access to cancer care.
This January, ACCC invites its membership to take part in promoting cervical cancer awareness by sharing resources and research about the importance of the HPV vaccine and regular screening, to work towards a future free of cervical cancer.
In recognition of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, ACCC spotlights the ongoing need for more robust research, expanded treatment options, and early diagnosis and intervention for a disease that, though it impacts millions of lives, is often under-discussed.
There is an increasing awareness of the importance of screening for social drivers of health (SDOH) for patients with cancer. Social drivers like income level and stable housing can impact a patient’s access to quality cancer care. To help multidisciplinary teams in oncology care screen for SDOH, ACCC has developed a screening tool to help identify potential SDOH factors that may hinder access to cancer treatment and clinical trial participation. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Richard Martin III, MD, MPH, medical director of Health Equity and Community Engagement at Tennessee Oncology and Dana McDaniel, DNP, FNP-C, AOCNP, director of Oncology and Clinical Research at Mosaic Life Care about their experiences using the screening tool as part of ACCC’s pilot program.
Examine the new Medicare reimbursement codes for community health integration, social determinants of health risk assessment, and principal illness navigation codes, as well as Medicare’s ongoing focus on enabling equitable access to high-quality care.
Explore key takeaways from a meeting between ACCC, Inova Schar Cancer Institute, and delegates from the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs.
ACCC is working with multidisciplinary care teams to assess the impact of SDOH on equitable access to cancer care and clinical trials among minority populations.
