C2-Social prescribing pathways in an Australian paediatric Allied Health service: Identifying and addressing unmet social needs through a child health intake line
Podium 3
4:00 PM - 4:30 PMTue
Podium 3
Social Determinants- Children and Young People
Speakers
Prof Sue Woolfenden
Director of Community Paediatrics & Professor of Community Paediatrics at the University of Sydney
SLHD & The University of Sydney
Background: The social determinants of health (SDH) – the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, drive child health inequities (differential outcomes that are unjust, unnecessary, systematic, and preventable). For a family, adverse SDH are experienced at an individual level as unmet social needs (e.g., housing instability, food insecurity). In an already overwhelmed paediatric healthcare system, these unmet social needs are barriers to service access. Evidence: There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating that sensitive and systematic identification and referral pathways can effectively address unmet social needs and potentially lead to improved health and wellbeing outcomes. However, this practice is not routinely implemented in Australian paediatric Allied Health services. Objective: To determine whether the Routine Identification of Unmet Social Needs to Unlock Potential (RISE UP) model of care, an unmet social needs identification tool and referral pathway, is needed, feasible, and acceptable within a paediatric Allied Health intake context in Australia. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was utilised to design, implement, and evaluate the RISE UP model of care. Results: Preliminary results indicated the majority of parents/carers reported one or more unmet social needs (65%). The most common were childcare (47%) and employment (46%). The RISE UP identification and referral pathways were acceptable to parents/carers (97%). Staff reported mixed acceptability (50%) and feasibility (54%). Conclusions: This study highlights that unmet social needs identification and referrals pathways are needed and acceptable to parents/carers. However, further exploration within paediatric Allied Health contexts in Australia is required.