skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Educators preserve, shape future with 'ALT NEW COLLEGE'; NY appeals court denies delay for Trump civil fraud trial; Michigan coalition gets cash influx to improve childcare.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A House Committee begins its first hearing in the Biden impeachment inquiry, members of Congress talk about the looming budget deadline and energy officials testify about the Maui wildfires.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A small fire department in rural Indiana is determined not to fail new moms and babies, the growing election denial movement has caused voting districts to change procedures and autumn promises spectacular scenery along America's rural byways.

Ohio Health Centers Use New Screening Tool to Improve Patient Health

play audio
Play

Monday, July 1, 2019   

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Where a person lives, works and plays can shape their overall health outcomes. And in Ohio, Community Health Centers are working to identify how social determinants may be affecting their patients.

Medical staff at the centers are using a screening tool called “PRAPARE” during routine office visits to detect social, economic and environmental variables in a patient's life. Erin Trapp, clinical director with Compass Community Health in Portage County, said by using this tool, they discovered one patient had been living in her car.

"It's a matter of survival for her; following our care plan and getting her medication was not a priority,” Trapp said. “So, we were able to link her with different community resources, and she is one of our success stories now. She actually has a job, she has an apartment."

PRAPARE stands for the Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients' Assets, Risks, and Experiences. It's estimated just 20% of health outcomes are attributed to clinical care, while social determinants account for the remaining 80%.

Dr. Ron Yee, chief medical officer with the National Association of Community Health Centers, explained the goal is to connect patients to local resources and interventions that can improve their situation, whatever it may be.

"Whether it's housing, whether it's finding a job, whether it's having no insurance or language barriers,” Yee said; “they are experts at a tapping into the community - whether they have it there on-site themselves or they use somebody in the community - of making those linkages to address those issues.”

Trapp said they've had so much success with PRAPARE, they adapted the questions to use with kids.

"Do you ride a bus to school or walk, or how do you get to school? Do you have a lot of friends at school? Do you feel safe at school? Tell me about, like, a typical day - what do you have for breakfast?” Trapp explained. “Well, you quickly find out they do have a food insecurity, and maybe they have transportation barriers, so they're always tardy."

Yee noted social factors may indicate a person is struggling, but they don't tell the whole story.

"Our patients that we work with are some of the hardest-working people, strongest family ties, very focused on what they do,” Yee said. “And a lot of times, that gets buried in the negativity of social determinants."

PRAPARE is also used by hospitals, health plans and others. It was developed by a group of national and state health-center associations, including the National Association of Community Health Centers, the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, and the Oregon Primary Care Association.


Disclosure: National Association of Community Health Centers contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Health Issues. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
Michigan is among 20 states to receive a multiyear grant from the Pritzker Children's Initiative. (SneakyPeakPoints/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The coalition known as "Think Babies Michigan" has secured more than $36 million in funding to offer grants to child-care providers for infants and to…


Social Issues

play sound

Nearly 100 school board elections are coming up in Minnesota this fall, with some gaining attention because of the candidates who are running…

Social Issues

play sound

The so-called conservative "hostile takeover" of a small, progressive liberal arts college in Florida is seeing some resistance from former students …


Only 546 of the tenants in the the 5,563 eviction cases filed in Nebraska in the first half of 2023 were represented by legal counsel. (tab62/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

High rent prices are draining the budgets of many Nebraska renters, who are paying between 30% and 50% of their income on rent. In some parts of the …

Social Issues

play sound

As the federal government nears a shutdown over a budget impasse in Congress, Wisconsin offices that help low-income individuals worry they'll have …

Lewiston, Idaho, sits on the Snake River at the border with Washington. (Guy Sagi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Indigenous leaders are traveling through the Northwest to highlight the plight of dwindling fish populations in the region. The All Our Relations …

Social Issues

play sound

Washington performs well in a new report scoring states' long-term care systems. The Evergreen State ranked second in AARP's Long-Term Services and …

Social Issues

play sound

A lack of housing options, mental-health challenges and a lack of connections and support have combined to drive an uptick in the number of foster …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021