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The article discusses the role of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and public health in addressing social needs and social determinants of health (SDOH). Topics include distinction between individual social needs and SDOH, importance of multisectoral partnerships to addressing SDOH, areas related to the Healthy People 2023 SDOH goals and strategic initiatives that will help accomplish population-level improvement in health outcomes, health equity and well-being.

Objectives: In Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the incidence of opioid-related overdose deaths increased from 17.4 per 100 000 population in 2008 to 23.9 per 100 000 population in 2014. Our objectives were to describe local demographic characteristics of this epidemic, identify public human services targets for intervention, determine temporal relationships between use of public human services and overdose mortality, and provide recommendations about potentially beneficial interventions. Methods: We used autopsy data from the Allegheny County Medical Examiner to link people who died of overdoses from 2008 through 2014 to their premortem incarcerations and use of mental health services and substance use disorder services. We calculated the frequency of use of public human services by decedents and the interval between the last use of these services and overdose death. Results: Of the 1399 decedents, 957 (68.4%) had a public human service encounter before overdose death. Of these 957 decedents, 531 (55.5%) had ever been incarcerated, 616 (64.4%) had ever used a mental health service, and 702 (73.4%) had ever used a substance use disorder service. Of 211 decedents incarcerated in the year before their overdose death, 54 (25.6%) overdosed within 30 days of their last release from jail. Of 510 decedents using mental health services in the year before death, 231 (45.3%) overdosed within 30 days of their last use of the services. Of 350 decedents using substance use disorder services in the year before their overdose death, 134 (38.3%) overdosed within 30 days of their last use of the services. Conclusions: Merging data on overdose mortality with data on use of public human services can be a useful strategy to identify trends in, and factors contributing to, the opioid epidemic; to target interventions; and to stimulate collaboration to address the epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the availability of national evidenced-based guidelines related to pediatric obesity screening and prevention, multiple studies have shown that primary care physicians find it difficult to adhere to them or are unfamiliar with them altogether. This article presents physicians’ perspectives on the use of electronic decision support tools, an alert and Smart Set, to accelerate the adoption of obesity-related recommendations into their practice. The authors interviewed providers using a test encounter walk-through technique that revealed a number of barriers to using electronic decision supports for obesity care in primary care settings. Providers’ suggestions for improving their use of obesity-related decision supports are presented. Careful consideration must be given to both the development of electronic decision support tools and a multilayered educational outreach strategy if providers are going to be persuaded to use such supports to help them implement pediatric obesity prevention and management best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of electronic technologies on the completion of a standardized rating form in an outpatient child psychiatry clinic, and the feasibility of adding a parent-report measure to the form. An electronic Outcomes Rating Form (e-ORF) was used in conjunction with a web-based patient tracking system and digital pens which allowed form data to be directly entered into a database. Clinician forms were collected for 87% of the 248 children seen for intake, a significant increase over the rate of 72% obtained in the same clinic with paper forms. Rating forms were also obtained from 85% of parents. Clinician- and parent-completed measures were moderately correlated with each other. This study showed that 1) the use of electronic technologies is associated with improved clinician completion rates; 2) it is possible to obtain rating forms from most parents; 3) clinician and parent measures provide related but distinct information; and 4) improvements in functioning found with clinician-report measures are corroborated by independent parent reports. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a study that explored the level of mental health disturbance of the children and adolescents in Boston, Massachusetts. Details of reports from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey regarding suicidal ideation and associated behaviors of the students of Boston School Department; Information on the Boston Emergency Services Team; Factors affecting the development of mental illness in young people.

Explores the child mental health crisis in the U.S. in 2006. Role of the public health community in the management of the crisis; Barriers facing the public health community in mobilizing efforts; Ways to address child mental health promotion.

Multisector community partnerships (MCPs) are a key element of the public health approach to addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). The Improving SDOH—Getting Further Faster (GFF) retrospective evaluation of MCP-driven SDOH interventions was designed to generate practice-based evidence that can help guide partnerships’ efforts to improve chronic disease outcomes and advance health equity by addressing SDOH. This article shares Year 2 GFF findings related to sustainability strategies for partnerships focused on SDOH and their interventions. GFF partnerships’ reported sustainability strategies, including establishing shared goals and increasing partners’ capacity for SDOH work through training, align well with the rich coalition building evidence base. Findings also indicate some evolution of sustainability strategies, such as adopting team-based, decentralized leadership models to help guard against partner or staff turnover. Organizations looking to form, fund, or provide technical assistance to MCPs that address SDOH can use the practice-based insights shared in this research brief to plan ahead for sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) funded community health workers (CHWs) for COVID Response and Resilient Communities (CCR). CCR is a 3-year, $350 million initiative to implement CHW strategies aimed at reducing COVID-19 impacts, building resilience, and improving health equity by addressing health-related social needs. This paper describes the CCR initiative and experiences to date, underscoring CHWs’ critical role in CDC’s pandemic response. CCR funds 67 recipients to reach communities who are disproportionately affected by long-standing health disparities (hereafter, priority populations). CCR aims to decrease the impact of COVID-19 and increase community resilience to respond to COVID-19 and future public health emergencies. Recipients implement three strategies: train CHWs to support the COVID-19 response, increase the workforce of CHWs to manage the spread of the disease, and improve utilization of community and clinical resources to engage CHWs to help strengthen communities’ resilience to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. We funded three additional organizations to provide technical assistance to CCR recipients and collaborate with us on a national evaluation of the program. CCR recipients hired about 950 CHWs and integrated these CHWs into over 1,000 organizations and care teams. At the end of the second program year, CHWs made over 250,000 referrals to social services and over 150,000 referrals to address specific health conditions. CCR demonstrates that CHWs can be quickly mobilized to participate in a public health emergency and reach those most affected by COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]