Social Drivers of Health: Implications for Clinical Practice

With this practical guide, those who care for children’s physical and mental health will learn how to identify and address social drivers of health (SDOH), also sometimes referred to as social determinants of health. The expert contributors present evidence-based tools to screen for SDOH, as well as strategies on how to care for children and families affected by different social stressors. This book offers real-world guidance that is easily implemented in a variety of settings.
 
Social Drivers of Health covers the needs most likely to be encountered in practice, including housing, food, and income insecurity, and discusses the impacts these issues have on the health and well-being of children and families. Also provided is a framework for establishing community partnerships, including identifying legal services and other community-based support for addressing different SDOH.

Sandra F. Braganza, MD, MPH, FAAP is the program director for the Social Pediatrics Program, an award-winning program that focuses on the promotion of health of underserved communities, trains future health care leaders, and advocates for social justice and health equity. She is associate professor of pediatrics in the Division of Academic General Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore and associate professor of family and social medicine in the Department of Family and Social Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr Braganza has been a general pediatrician at the Comprehensive Health Care Center, part of the Montefiore Medical Group, a Federally Qualified Health Center that also serves as the teaching practice for the Social Pediatrics Residency Training Program, one of the oldest advocacy training programs in the nation. As an educator, she has developed residency curriculum focused on advocacy, social justice, and the social drivers of health (SDOH). She has mentored countless trainees in their careers and academic pursuits in pediatrics, academic medicine, public health, and advocacy. Her academic interests include health care disparities, SDOH, medical education, and advocacy. 

Dr Braganza completed her residency training in social pediatrics and her chief residency at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. She received her medical degree from the State University of New York Downstate College of Medicine and her master’s in public health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. She has completed the Physician Leadership Program at Montefiore Health System.

Kevin Fiori, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP is the inaugural vice chair for Community Health & Engagement and division chief for the Division of Community & Population Health within the Department of Pediatrics, director of the Community Health Worker Institute at Montefiore Health System, director of social determinants of health for Montefiore Health System’s Office of Community & Population Health, and associate professor in both pediatrics and family and social medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His research aims to address health disparities in communities both in the Bronx and abroad, and he is the primary investigator on multiple ongoing implementation research studies in Togo, West Africa, and the Bronx, focused particularly on community health worker integration within health systems. Dr Fiori’s clinical activities are based in the South Bronx, providing primary care to families at a Federally Qualified Health Center. He provides mentorship to pediatric residents in the Social Pediatrics Residency Training Program at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. 

Dr Fiori completed residency training in social pediatrics and served as chief resident at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore. He completed a doctor of medicine at the University of Washington, master of public health at Boston University School of Public Health as part of a 3-year Peace Corps service in Togo, and master of science in clinical research methods at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr Fiori was awarded the Ellen Griep Award for Excellence by the University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr Fiori and his spouse, Jennifer Schechter, were awarded the 2016 Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service by the National Peace Corps Association.