Identifying Unmet Social Needs in a Patient Living in Isolation: A Case Report

Loneliness and social isolation are common among older adults. To deliver high-quality care to older patients, healthcare professionals should know the social conditions of their patients. Addressing social determinants of health (SDH) in daily practice is beneficial to both patients and healthcare professionals. We illustrate a patient with congestive heart failure and cognitive decline whose social conditions improved through an SDH assessment. An SDH assessment has some potential advantages, which include facilitating a comprehensive understanding of patients' social conditions, visualizing how patients' social conditions have changed, deepening interprofessional collaboration, and ameliorating unnecessary negative emotions toward patients. This case report conveys two key messages. Firstly, healthcare professionals have the capability to evaluate patients' social backgrounds and enhance their health and social conditions through routine care. Secondly, the utilization of an SDH screening toolkit can support and enhance this initiative.

Using Data and Research to Heal the Future

This invited testimony was given during a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Campaign for Action meeting held in New Orleans, LA. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Future of Nursing Town Hall in Chicago that focused on social determinants of health. The focus of the meeting was school health and social determinants of health. The author, serving as Director of Research for NASN, was asked to specifically focus on NASN's efforts related to data and research, as well as social determinants of health.