Tag: social determinants of health

Advancing Community Access to Health for All

Member News, MHA Rounds

Byline: Ewa Panetta, CPPS, Director of Health Equity and Experience, MHA 

Designing Community Access to Health Programs 

Advancing community health access for all Michiganders is a key focus of Gov. Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, as Gov. Whitmer declared January Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Month. This opportunity recognizes the importance of addressing social and economic factors that have a greater impact on overall health than factors like biology, behavior or medical care. Successful community health access programs require considering the most impactful SDOH in the local communities to ultimately improve health.

Step one is understanding the factors and barriers that impact the way communities and individuals experience health and healthcare. At the community level, these are referred to as social determinants (drivers) of health (SDOH), while at the individual level, they are referred to as health-related social needs (HRSNs).

It is no surprise that accreditation and regulatory bodies are including requirements and quality measurements that call on hospitals to effectively assess and understand SDOH and HRSNs, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of care for all patients. By identifying these factors, hospitals can better understand what steps are needed to address patient level needs and inform investment in long-term solutions that improve health outcomes at the community level.

No single organization or sector has sole responsibility for addressing these factors – it takes authentic partnerships, long-term investment and designing programs that are intentional in addressing root causes of poor health outcomes. As we enter a new year, let January serve as a reflection of hospitals’ commitment to the MHA’s mission of advancing the health of all individuals and communities.

Below are resources available to help you and your organization address these factors.

Organizational Level

Assess patient and community social needs and integrate social care navigation into clinical workflows.

  • Use the Guide and Action Plan to Integrating CMS and TJC Health Equity Requirements to identify key data collection requirements across SDOH/HRSNs and design programs and interventions that address these factors. The exclusive MHA-member resource was developed to support hospitals and health systems with establishing and maintaining a program that meets The Joint Commission and CMS requirements and standards by centering quality improvement best practices to guide implementation.

Community Level

Build relationships to address local social, political and economic structures and conditions that affect health outcomes.

The MHA and the MHA Keystone Center remain committed to supporting member hospitals improve health access and to deliver safe, high-quality care! We look forward to sharing additional resources and association activities throughout the program year.

 

Three Key Takeaways from Michigan’s Social Determinants of Health Summit

Member News, MHA Rounds

The following article was written by Carlie Austin, BSN, RN, Maternal Infant Health Policy Specialist at the MHA.

In my role as Maternal Infant Health Policy Specialist at the MHA, one of my main goals has been to utilize my expertise to inspire health equity for marginalized birthing persons and their children and to build relationships that strengthen my impact and purpose. Attending the second annual Michigan Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Summit affirmed how purposeful impact is achieved.

MHA SVP Jim Lee presented on the Health Equity Policy Panel facilitated by Dr. Renee Canady, CEO of the Michigan Public Health Institute. Lee was joined by Poppy Hernandez, Ponsella Hardaway, and Tommy Stallworth.

The event, hosted by the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Jan. 23-25, offered a variety of informative sessions that explored key issues impacting the health and well-being of Michiganders and what solutions foster change when it comes to SDOH. Presenters covered maternal health, behavioral health, childcare, food access, housing and much more. There was also a health equity policy panel featuring my colleague Jim Lee, senior vice president of Health and Data Policy at the MHA that centered around how data and community go hand-in-hand for advancing health equity.

As a healthcare provider who also works in the policy space, I often ask myself how I can be most impactful. I left the event with three key takeaways, that I’ll now be referring to as CUE:

  1. Collaboration is critical. It is not uncommon for health equity work to feel impossible and in the maternal-infant space specifically, there are a plethora of initiatives across our state aiming to accomplish identical goals. The summit stressed the importance of becoming intentional about how we reduce siloed and duplicative efforts to ensure we’re maximizing our knowledge, resources and scope of impact.
  2. Utility of information often feels like an undervalued tool for achieving health equity. The summit addressed various ways to effectively communicate and exchange information. In addition to embracing the quantitative data, we must also seek out and listen to the lived experience of community members. During his keynote presentation, Lt. Governor Gilchrist’s said, “lack of information is deadly” – I would build upon that notion by adding that lack of utilizing information is deadly. Knowledge is powerful not only in its existence, but in the manner we use it.
  3. Earnest effort was a theme threaded throughout the summit. Every person, program and future pathway was rooted in the earnest effort to simply serve people well. Health equity efforts are founded in an earnest response to understanding what people need to achieve prosperous lives and how we justly share our resources to get them there. I appreciate the summit reemphasizing the importance of having principally similar partnerships. I loved this art of action because it aligns with who I am at my core and re-centered that, yes, my earnest effort is vital to eradicating health inequities, but being principally aligned in my pursuits will make the pathway achievable.

I truly enjoyed the summit, and look forward to attending again next year.