Honors Program
Date of this Version
Spring 3-2020
Document Type
Thesis
Citation
Daubendiek, J. 2020. Navigating the Social Determinants of Health: First Steps Toward Assessing and Addressing Socioeconomic Needs. Undergraduate Honors Thesis. University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Abstract
The Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the socioeconomic conditions that shape a person’s life and can include an individual’s housing situation, economic opportunities, ability to obtain food, access to transportation and healthcare, level of education, and exposure to discrimination and violence. When people struggle with these socioeconomic aspects of their lives, their health will be negatively impacted as a consequence. In this study, the SDOH of patients were evaluated at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine through the use of a survey about socioeconomic needs, and the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) of each participating patient was reviewed. This study found that screening among hospitalized people is feasible, that several items exist in the EMR which correlate significantly with the presence of socioeconomic needs, and that many patients with socioeconomic needs perceived that they would benefit from low-cost, practical interventions.
Comments
Copyright Jocelyn Daubendiek 2020.
A public-acces version of this thesis is available at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/honorstheses/646