Act to counter SNAP benefit disruptions

Nearly 42 million people – 1 in 8 U.S. residents – are set to lose their SNAP benefits starting Saturday November 1st because of the ongoing federal shutdown. This means an average loss of $190 a month per person, at a time when the increased cost of living is already stretching many families’ budgets to the breaking point. Given the strong connections between food insecurity and a variety of health conditions, this is likely to have substantial negative impacts on the health of millions of children and adults. Thankfully, some states are stepping in to fill the gap. You can also act to support your neighbors: write to your members of Congress to urge them to end the shutdown here and find your local food bank, where you can volunteer or donate here.

Register for Upcoming December 3rd SIREN Webinar: To screen or not to screen, that is (an important) question

Please join us on December 3, 9-10am PT/12-1pm ET for our Shakespeare-inspired webinar, “To screen or not to screen, that is (an important) question”. Drs. Jen Makelarski (UChicago) and Danielle Cullen (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) will each share their recent research on universal intervention models in pediatrics settings. The presentations will be followed by a discussion, moderated by SIREN Co-Director Dr. Laura Gottlieb, with the presenters and Dr. Sarah DeSilvey from the Gravity Project exploring the advantages and disadvantages of screening + referral models vs. alternatives to screening models.

Recording from Engaging Communities in Social Care Research: Learnings from SIREN’s Social Care Engagement Grantees is Now Available

On October 21st we explored the transformative impact of the SIREN Engagement Grantees projects. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, SIREN grantee research-community partnerships carried out innovative projects over the last two years to strengthen community engagement and amplify the voices of those with lived experiences in social care research. We dove into discussions with the grantee teams and discovered how these efforts are driving forward the future of engaged social care research across diverse populations and settings in the United States. 

This webinar was made possible through support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Webinars

Health Outreach Partners: Access to Transportation: Strategies and Solutions for Improving Care - Community Of Practice – November 4, 11, 18, & 25, 2025

HealthBegins: Strategies to Sustain Health Equity Investments Against Headwinds – November 13, 2025 | 10am PT/1pm ET 

Medicaid Food Security Network: MFSN Quarterly Convening – November 21, 2025 | 11:30am PT/2:30pm ET

Systems for Action: Integrating Health and Social Services through a Novel Independent Practice Association – December 10, 2025 | 9am PT/12pm ET

Meetings & Conferences

National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) Fall 2025 Conference – November 19-21, 2025 | National Harbor, MD | Registration is open

NAPCRG (North American Primary Care Research Group) 53rd Annual Meeting  – November 21-25, 2025 | Atlanta GA | Registration is open

Manatt Health: Navigating the New Frontier: AI Policy Trends Impacting Health Tech Innovation – Originally broadcast September 25, 2025 

SIREN: Engaging Communities in Social Care Research: Learnings from SIREN’s Social Care Engagement Grantees – Originally broadcast October 21, 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

Validation of the Jefferson Health-Related Social Needs Screener Beachy S, Rising KL, Hass RW, et al. | Frontiers in Health Services

Assistance

Collecting and Using Social Needs Data in Health Settings: A Systematic Review of the Literature on Health Service Utilization and Costs Smithman MA, Ogundele OJ, Perrier L, et al. | BMC Health Services

Differences in Health Care Costs Between Two Social Health Support Programs: Findings From a Randomized Social Health Integration Pilot Program Mahmud A, Brown MC, Lewis CC, et al. | BMC Health Services Research

"It Doesn't Feel as Much Like my Downfall for Needing Help": Patient Perspectives on Pathways for Improving Health Through Social Health Integration Singer A, Mahmud A, Mun S, et al. | BMC Health Services Research

⭐ Note: Using the 2024 SIREN Conceptual Model as a guide, this study highlights ‘the value that health care organizations can offer by providing emotional support to patients who are facing stressful social circumstances, even when the need for social services outstrips the supply.'

Uptake of Medicaid Billing for Community Health Worker Services in Louisiana, 2022-2023 Wennerstrom A, Adkins C, Witmeier K, Whittington A, Haywood CG, Bachhuber MA | Medical Care

Integration of Screening and Referral Tools for Social Determinants of Health and Modifiable Lifestyle Factors in the Epic Electronic Health Record System: Scoping Review Chishtie JA, Tea J, Ester M, et al. | Journal of Medical Internet Research

Assistance interventions for specific needs or populations

Food insecurity interventions

Food Insecurity Interventions to Improve Blood Pressure: The Healthy Food First Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial Berkowitz SA, Ammerman AS, Knoepp P, et al. | JAMA Internal Medicine

⭐ Note: This comparative effectiveness study among a food insecure adults with hypertension shows that a $40 monthly food subsidy was somewhat more effective at reducing blood pressure than a biweekly healthy food box delivery worth $115 per month. Offering lifestyle counseling and a longer benefit duration did not produce better blood pressure outcomes.

Voucher for Healthy Foods and Diabetes Control: A Randomized Clinical Trial Persaud N, Ul Haq MZ, Buadu A, et al. | JAMA Internal Medicine

⭐ Note: In this randomized clinical trial among food insecure individuals with elevated HbA1c, a monthly $65 food voucher did not have an effect on HbA1c control or objective measures of diet quality but the voucher did increase self-reported vegetable and fruit consumption. 

Health and Economic Impact and Cost-effectiveness of Produce Prescriptions for Diabetes in 50 U.S. States: A Microsimulation Study Wang L, Cudhea F, Deng S, et al. | Diabetes Care

Incorporating a Produce Prescription Intervention into Clinical Practice: Lessons Learned from a Food Is Medicine Intervention Brostow DP, Kamdar NP, Napa S, et al. | Health Promotion Practice

Assistance interventions for cancer patients

Federal Housing Assistance and Stage at Cancer Diagnosis Among Older Adults in the US Pollack CE, Blackford AL, Craig TK, et al. | JAMA Network Open

A Hybrid Technology-Enabled Financial Navigation Model to Combat Financial Toxicity in Cancer Care Mudaranthakam DP, Makovec A, Forcino R, et al. | Cancer Control

Revolutionizing Oncology Through AI: Addressing Cancer Disparities by Improving Screening, Treatment, and Survival Outcomes via Integration of Social Determinants of Health Srivastav AK, Singh A, Singh S, Rivers B, Lillard JW Jr, Singh R | Cancers

Other population-specific assistance interventions

Unconditional Cash Transfers and Prenatal Care Utilization in Flint, Michigan Hanna M, Agarwal S, Shaefer HL | JAMA Network Open

⭐ Note: This study found that providing every expectant mother in Flint Michigan $1,500 mid-pregnancy and $500 monthly after birth until age 1 year was associated with substantial improvements in prenatal care utilization compared to 21 matched cities.

See accompanying commentary here

Income Support Needs and Bedside Legal Assistance for Patients Recovering from Violent Injuries Tung EL, Pillai R, Sen-Gupta N, et al. | JAMA Network Open

Addressing Health-Related Social Needs in Hospitalized Children: An Implementation Assessment Muleta H, Levano S, Haughton J, et al. | Academic Pediatrics

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Nurses Addressing Social Determinants of Health in the Emergency Department Gonzalez JM, Ortega J, McFadden J, et al. | Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal

Interventions to Address Health-Related Social Needs Among People with Kidney Failure: A Rapid Scoping Review Taylor KS, Petkiewicz D, Tesfai Y, Crews DC, Han HR | International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

From Screening to Referral: Connecting Heart Transplant Patients with Resources to Meet Social Needs Remains Challenging Despite Adequate Support Bitterfeld L, Fraley AF, Smith A, et al. | Pediatric Transplantation

Commentaries and Blogs

Envisioning Housing Equity: A Framework to Promote Housing Security Among Hospitalized Children Kim G, Garg A | Hospital Pediatrics