Social determinants of health interventions focused on housing security, including addressing houselessness and making home modifications to improve housing quality, improve clinical outcomes and generate a return on investment, according to an analysis from the Commonwealth Fund. [Patient Engagement HIT]

The Commonwealth Fund has found that housing and nutrition social determinants of health interventions

have the strongest evidence for yielding good ROI.

The analysis, published as a follow-up to a similar three-year-old document, found moderate evidence that social determinants of health interventions centered on food, nutrition, and transportation were effective.

Meanwhile, more data is needed to support the efficacy of medical-legal partnerships and interventions for social isolation and loneliness. Although there has been rigorous study looking at care management or patient navigators, results are mixed, the researchers said.

“Overall, we continue to see mounting evidence that addressing social needs of complex patients can reduce costly forms of health care utilization and result in savings,” the researchers wrote in a blog post accompanying the report. “More research is being produced in this area, with studies of increasing rigor.”

The issue of social determinants of health has seen mounting recognition over the past decade as the medical industry has begun to embrace value-based reimbursement models. Experts have asserted that addressing social determinants of health will stem the upstream factors that impact patient well-being, particularly patient access to preventive care and chronic disease management.

Full article here> 

###