A recent study published in the journal Pregnancy found that most healthcare professionals were willing to perform social drivers of health screenings and understood understood why these screenings are important for patient care.
Social drivers of health screenings look at social and environmental factors that may affect health outcomes, which may also help families managing rare conditions like fetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FNAITFetal and neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia A rare condition in which a mother’s immune system attacks fetal platelets, leading to dangerously low platelet levels before and/or after birth.). This includes access to food, safe housing, neighborhood conditions, transportation, personal safety, possible exposure to violence and support from family or the community.
These screenings are especially important in prenatal care, because poor social conditions can result in poor health outcomes for pregnant women and their babies. The goal is to improve prenatal care and pregnancy outcomes.
However, healthcare professionals also shared several concerns. They reported not having enough time, training or reimbursement to do screenings properly. Some felt unsure about which local resources were available to help patients who needed social support. Because of this, extra work and emotional stress often fell on the healthcare professionals.
“While healthcare professionals feel positive about SDoH screenings in the prenatal care setting, it is important that they receive adequate support to conduct the screenings effectively,” the researchers said.
Read more about FNAIT testing and diagnosis
Researchers interviewed 15 healthcare professionals from five prenatal care sites at Penn Medicine. The healthcare professionals included doctors, nurses and staff with two to over 30 years of experience, representing many roles in the clinic. All were full-time and had regular contact with patients.
The researchers suggested several solutions. These included:
- Keeping an up-to-date list of local resources for families
- Having someone trained to guide patients who need extra help
- Training all healthcare professionals on how to do screenings correctly
- Providing incentives to recognize and support the work of healthcare professionals.
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