Special issue of Health Services Research (HSR) on Social Care and the US Health Care Sector

This special issue, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is jam packed with work exploring how health care systems, CBOs, and social service agencies are aiming to improve health by assessing patient- and population-level social risks and attending to identified needs.  Social care research aspires to address inequities but achieving this requires researchers to deepen their partnerships with individuals and communities impacted by social needs and interventions. As one part of this larger movement and our SIREN commitment to engaging community members in social care research, in partnership with the Patient Advocate Foundation we have been able to bring lived experience to this special issue through community members’ review of abstracts and full length manuscripts.  We are incredibly grateful to the community members who helped shape the work in this special issue.  More details about this process here.

Recording and presentation materials now available from SIREN webinar: Unpacking the third AHC evaluation report

The recording and presentation materials are now available from our May 8th webinar: Unpacking the third AHC evaluation report. Dawn Alley, former director of the AHC Model at CMMI and Head of Scale at IMPaCT Care and SIREN Co-Directors Caroline Fichtenberg and Danielle Hessler Jones unpacked the report’s findings and discussed implications in the current climate for practice and research. 

Opportunity to comment on proposed removal of health equity and social drivers of health quality measures in Medicare inpatient programs

Among many other distressing actions, the Trump administration has begun rolling back CMS’ support for social risk interventions, including by rescinding Biden-era guidance on using Medicaid and CHIP to address health-related social needs, and limiting federal funding for some state Medicaid initiatives that support services beyond medical care as part of Section 1115(a) demonstrations. Most recently, CMS has proposed to eliminate the health equity commitment and social drivers of health quality measures that had been added in the past few years for inpatient care. Contrary to the other two changes, there is an opportunity to comment on these proposed eliminations. Read the proposed changes in inpatient care, long-term care hospitals, inpatient psychiatric facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and skilled nursing facilities. Comments can be submitted here until June 10th.

The SIREN Podcast Returns June 4th
Join us for new weekly episodes every Wednesday beginning June 4th featuring discussions with experts on emerging research, practical interventions, and policy initiatives focused on social care and advancing health and racial equity in the field. We are also releasing plenaries from our 2025 National Research Meeting in podcast form. Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast channel including Apple and Spotify.

Evidence for Action: Research to Advance Racial and Indigenous Health Equity
Evidence for Action has launched a new funding opportunity aimed at advancing racial and Indigenous health equity. The initiative features two types of awards: Rapid Response Research (due May 28th, 2025), which supports urgent, actionable health equity studies impacted by changes in federal funding, and New Research Support (due July 16th, 2025), which funds community-driven projects that leverage the knowledge and expertise of historically marginalized racial and Indigenous communities to develop or test solutions for health equity. More details here.

Systems for Action: 2025 Call for Proposals: Community-Led Systems Research to Address Systemic Racism
This funding opportunity will provide up to $200,000 for one-year community-led feasibility studies of new interventions designed to dismantle and disrupt forms of systemic racism through the alignment of medical, social, and public health systems. Proposals are due on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at 3pm ET. Click here for more details.

Apply for the 2025 PCORI Annual Meeting Patient Scholarship
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is offering a select number of scholarships to patients, caregivers, and community-based organizations to attend the 2025 PCORI Annual Meeting Deadline to apply is June 4, 2025. More details here.

Webinars

Patient Advocate Foundation: Hear Me Now: Innovative Storytelling in Uncertain Times – May 22, 2025 | 9am PT/12pm ET

Systems for Action: Lived Experience in Research | Yoga for Racial Trauma – May 28, 2025 | 9am PT/12pm ET

Systems for Action: Can California's CalAIM Medicaid Transformation Initiative Achieve Systems Integration? – June 11, 2025 | 9am PT/12pm ET featuring SIREN Co-director Caroline Fichtenberg

Meetings & Conferences

American Hospital Association: Accelerating Health Equity Conference – May 19-22, 2025 | Baltimore, MD

AcademyHealth 2025 Annual Research Meeting – June 7-10, 2025 |  Minneapolis, MN 

Camden Coalition: Putting Care At the Center Annual Conference – October 15-17, 2025 | Portland, OR

2025 PCORI Annual Meeting – October 21-22, 2025 | Washington, D.C.

National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership: Understanding and Addressing the Health-Related Legal Needs of Older Adults and their Families – Webinar Series – Originally broadcast March 26 and April 24, 2025

Manatt Health: Investing in Population Health: Groundbreaking Innovation from Covered California – Originally broadcast April 28, 2025

Center for Health Care Strategies: Building Community Care Hubs to Address Health-Related Social Needs: Lessons from New York and North Carolina Medicaid – Originally broadcast April 30, 2025 

Manatt Health: Assessing the Impact of Medicaid Cuts on Children and Youth  – Originally broadcast May 6, 2025

Manatt Health: Reimagining Primary Care: Innovation, Technology and Policy for a Healthier Future – Originally broadcast May 12, 2025

Below we share multiple SIREN-relevant articles published since the last newsletter. For a full list, see the SIREN Evidence and Resource Library. As always, if you are aware of resources that you think should be added to the library, please send them our way.

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Awareness

Identifying and Addressing Social Determinants of Health with an Electronic Health Record Ajibola O, Tabchi R, Hepworth K, Walty A, Niyibizi A | Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine

Neighborhood Child Opportunity Index and Household-Level Social Needs Luke MJ, Kenyon CC, Beck AF, et al. | Pediatrics

See accompanying commentary here

Social Risk at Individual vs Neighborhood Levels and Health Care Use in Medicaid Enrollees Tucher EL, Miller-Rosales C, McCloskey J, Grant RW, Iturralde E | JAMA Network Open

Caregiver Perspectives on Discussing Immigration Legal Status in a Medical Setting Kurschner S, Falusi O, Newman D | Clinical Pediatrics

Screening and Response for Adverse Social Determinants of Health in US Emergency Departments Molina MF, Cash RE, Loo SS, et al. | JAMA Network Open

Implementing a Screening Protocol for Food Insecure Patients Within a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTACH): A Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) MacDonald M, Stimson C, Samsel M, Gross T | Nutrition in Clinical Practice

Medicaid Accountable Care Organization Implementation and Perinatal Claims Documentation of Social Risk Factors Nguyen KH, Gordon SH, Lim K, Thompson KD, Ncube CN, Cole MB | JAMA Network Open

Psychometric Analysis of Disrespect and Abuse Scale Alzyoud F | Nursing Research

Screening for Intimate Partner Violence After Traumatic Injury: A Community-Based Participatory Qualitative Research Study Decker H, Tsuzuki MD, De Marchis E, Zawisza J, Martinez M, Bongiovanni T | Journal of Surgical Research

Survey of Health Care Providers on Social Determinants of Health and Treatment Decision-Making for Patients With HR+/HER2- Metastatic Breast Cancer Gary M, Krueger E, Kisiel M, Demirhan K, Barajas AG, Ryan JC | Oncology and Therapy

Assistance

Low-Intensity Social Care and Child Acute Health Care Utilization: A Randomized Clinical Trial Lindau ST, Makelarski JA, Winslow VA, et al. | JAMA Pediatrics

Potential Pediatric Healthcare Consequences of Not Getting Help for Disclosed Social Needs Garg A, Brochier A, Tripodis Y, BarahonaPaz K, Drainoni ML | Academic Pediatrics

Integrated Behavioral Health and Implementation of the Safe Environment for Every Kid Approach in Pediatric Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Study Palinkas LA, Belanger R, Saldana L, et al. | Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics

Addressing Social Determinants of Health to Promote Health Equity for Latinx Families: A Mixed-Methods Study of the DULCE Intervention Martinez-Cardoso A, Monahan E, Garza A, Wallace N | Family & Community Health

Racial, Ethnic, and Sex Differences in Need and Receipt of Support for Social Needs Among Veterans Frank DA, Russell LE, Procario GT, et al. | JAMA Health Forum

The Impact of a Bidirectional Clinic to Community Social Care Referral Program Bolen SD, Lever J, Mundorf C, et al. | Medical Care

Increasing a Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program's Referrals for Children and Families in a Pediatric Emergency Department Khan NI, Chinta SS, Cheaton BM, Nimmer M, Levas MN | Injury Epidemiology

The Congregational Care Network: Preliminary Data from a Healthcare/Congregational Partnership for At-Risk Older Adults Foster JD, Torke AM, Willis DR, et al. | Journal of the American Geriatrics Society

Commentaries & Blogs

Should Medicaid Pay for Housing? Considering the Debate Bernard R, Mayer M | Journal of General Internal Medicine

Cultural and Place-Based Wisdom for Implementing 'Food Is Medicine' Programs in North Carolina Bellin R, Jones SJ, Rizvi SM, et al. | Health Affairs