Hi everyone and welcome back! I'm Jennifer Jones population health practice leader here at Springbuk.
Over the past month, we've spent some time walking through Springbuk’s perspective on social determinants of health, and how employers can use social determinant data to improve the overall health of their members and population health initiatives.
As I mentioned in our first video, social determinants at their core are about improving the underlying social and economic conditions within our communities to improve overall health. These factors can influence over 50% of an individual's overall health. But we see employers struggle to make an impact at the community level. So we take a downstream approach to social determinants. This allows us to focus on employer-level initiatives that focus on individual and social needs and employees and their families.
At this downstream or midstream level, we have much more opportunity for employers to gain traction and improve their member populations. In our last video, I shared two use cases of how to integrate social determinant data and how it can further enhance your understanding of subsets of your population, which can ultimately direct your strategy and initiatives. So as we wrap up our series today, I wanted to leave you with a few next steps to address social determinants in your populations.
- Understand what data you already have and how to access that data. So get a good understanding of how it's captured in your HRIS systems, how to integrate that with your healthcare data, and what additional outside data sources may be beneficial.
- Be ready to think about strategies outside the traditional benefits plan. Be thinking of benefits that directly impact the five employer focus social determinants we've spoken about, including addressing food insecurity, transportation, safety, and the like.
- Survey your employees you need to be able to understand what their needs are and what their biggest challenges are right now.
- Work with a partner that provides ongoing thought leadership and collaborates with you on key initiatives like social determinants and health equity.
As always, if you'd like to learn more about Springbuk’s perspective on social determinants, be sure to download our e-book using the link below, and thanks again for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you in our next series!
E-book: Social Determinants of Health - A Springbuk Perspective
In case you missed the first three videos in this series, want to re-watch, or share with a co-worker, use the links below:
1. The 5 Social Determinants of Health
2. Social Determinants of Health: Upstream and Downstream Impact
3. 6 Data-Informing Social Determinants
4. Applying Data Informing Strategies in Real Life
Jennifer Jones, MSM RD, Population Health Practice Leader
Jennifer is an experienced healthcare professional with a background in clinical dietetics, wellness programming, and employer health. With over 15 years of experience, she has worked in various settings, including healthcare systems, occupational health organizations and health, and welfare benefits advisory firms. After working directly with patients and employees, Jennifer joined Springbuk, where she serves as the Population Health Practice Leader, and turned her focus to population and employer health to achieve a greater impact on health outcomes.
