Current Research Project: Health-Related Social Needs

Social and environmental factors greatly impact health, yet they are often not considered in medical practice.  Through a series of studies, the Center for Knowledge Management evaluated how best to collect information about health-related social needs, including evaluations of the National Academy of Medicine questionnaire and the Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patient Assets, Risks, and Experiences instrument (Giuse et al., 2017; Prather et al., 2017; Koonce et al., 2017).

Most recently, we have created a freely-available database of public health and community-based resources in the Nashville area, which includes information to address key health-related social needs as identified by the National Academy of Medicine and the National Association of Community Health Centers.  Given the strong impact of social factors on health, it is important that patients know about community resources that can help them meet their needs.