Social risk screening and navigation programs in health care systems across the United States have expanded rapidly, spurred in part by changes in federal and state policies related to health-related social needs. This growth has relied predominantly on the rationale that screening and referral for social needs will help improve patients’ social conditions and thereby contribute to improving health and reducing avoidable, often costly, health care utilization events. However, the growing body of evidence suggests the pathway between social care programs and health outcomes may be more complex.

The Better Care Playbook recently spoke with Laura Gottlieb, MD, MPH, Professor of Family and Community Medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and founding co-director of the Social Interventions Research and Evaluation Network (SIREN), to explore the link between addressing social needs and health outcomes. They discussed a recent article Laura co-authored that explores emerging evidence on social care interventions and identifies multiple pathways through which social care programs likely impact health.