NEW YORK, NY—June 24, 2019—Pediatricians seeking to address the social and economic concerns that can affect the health of their young patients must first build trusting relationships with parents and alleviate concerns that child protective services may be alerted, according to a report released today by United Hospital Fund and the nonprofit research organization Public Agenda.
“Parents bring their young children to the pediatrician up to 11 times within the first two years of life, and each of these visits offers an opportunity to identify unmet social needs and coordinate care with community-based services,” said Suzanne Brundage, director of UHF’s Children’s Health Initiative. “As screening for social determinants of health becomes more common in pediatric practices, qualitative and quantitative research can help us understand and improve how parents experience these screenings.”
Parents in four of the focus groups were recruited by community-based organizations that are part of UHF’s Partnerships for Early Childhood Development initiative, set up to help pediatric practices routinely screen young children and their families for social determinants and connect them with social services that can address those risks. The rest of the parents were recruited by professional market research facilities. Two of the eight focus groups were conducted in Spanish.
Support for the report was provided by a grant from United Hospital Fund. UHF’s Children’s Health Initiative, which commissioned and collaborated on this work, is funded in part by the William J. & Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation and the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation.
The full report can be downloaded here.
About Public Agenda Public Agenda works to strengthen democracy and expand opportunity in America by fostering thoughtful public opinion, meaningful public participation and responsive public institutions. Founded in 1975 by the social scientist and public opinion research pioneer Dan Yankelovich and soon-to-be secretary of state Cyrus Vance, Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit research and public engagement organization. Find Public Agenda online at PublicAgenda.org, on Facebook at facebook.com/PublicAgenda and on Twitter at @PublicAgenda.
About United Hospital Fund United Hospital Fund works to build a more effective health care system for every New Yorker. An independent, nonprofit organization, we analyze public policy to inform decision-makers, find common ground among diverse stakeholders, and develop and support innovative programs that improve the quality, accessibility, affordability, and experience of patient care. For more on our initiatives and programs please visit our website at www.uhfnyc.org and follow us on Twitter.
