Publications

More Than Just Giving Them A Piece of Paper: Interviews with Primary Care on Social Needs Referrals to Community-Based Organizations

Author(s): 

Laura Beidler, Na'amah Razon, Hannah Lang, and Taressa Fraze

Date: 
April 14, 2022

Primary care practices are responding to calls to incorporate patients' social risk factors, such as housing, food, and economic insecurity, into clinical care. Healthcare likely relies on the expertise and resources of community-based organizations to improve patients' social conditions, yet little is known about the referral process. 

Referrals to community-based organizations were used in primary care to improve patients' social conditions, but despite strong motivations, interviewees reported challenges providing tailored and up-to-date information to patients.