The Child Maltreatment Research and Practice Network, an Injury Prevention Research Center student group, conducted a systematic review to examine tools for screening for social determinants of health (SDOH) among children and evaluate how these tools detect early indicators of risk and facilitate referrals to needed resources.
While there is a fair amount of debate about whether screening children and youth for SODH is beneficial or not, there is not a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape for screening tools and how they inform care. This systematic review aimed to improve understanding of the present state of science around screenings.
The final sample included 17 studies which encompassed 11 screeners. The analysis found that the extent to which SDOH screening accurately assessed a child’s SDOHs was largely unevaluated.
The publication is the result of collaborative efforts by graduate students, post-doctoral students, and faculty sponsors from the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health and the School of Social Work. You can read the full article published in Pediatrics here.