Inga Gruß, PhD; Alexandra Varga, MPH; Neon Brooks, PhD; Rachel Gold, PhD, MPH; Matthew P. Banegas, MPH, PhD
Corresponding Author: Inga Gruß, PhD; Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research. Email: inga.gruss@kpchr.org
Section: Original Research
Publication: September 16, 2021
Objectives: This study evaluated how often patients who reported social risk factors requested assistance with these risks in an integrated health system. Methods: We examined how self-reports of risk related to stated desire for help with that risk reported during social risks screenings at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW). We examined how patient characteristics were associated with desire for help with each social risk domain using logistic regression. Results: Approximately 24% (n=7,807) of the 32,865 KPNW members aged ≥ 18 years who were screened between June 1, 2017 and December 31, 2019 reported at least one social risk. More than half of patients who reported a risk were risk/help concordant (i.e., they also wanted help with that risk). The highest concordance – 81.7% – was observed among patients reporting medical financial hardship. A number of demographic, health and other factors were associated with concordance across domains. Conclusions: Patients do not request assistance for all reported social needs. Our findings could help shape future work examining patients’ reasons for not accepting assistance and developing interventions to more effectively help patients with high social risk.