Abstract

Supporting health equity and quality improvement through engagement (SHEQuITE Network)

Ashley Parks, DrPH, MPH, MBA, MTech, MCHES, CPH, CPHQ, HACP, CSSBB, CPHRM, CHTS-IM, PMP, CS-MC, CPPS, Jennifer Schroeder Tyson, MPH, Sydeena Isaacs, PhD, RD, LDN, Danielle Adams, Appalachian State University

APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo

In Northwestern North Carolina health equity is a significant issue. Rate of premature death, poor or fair health, poor physical health days per month, and poor mental health days per month are all higher than the state average. This area in the Appalachians has lower rates of high school graduation and therefore unfavorable college education rates, employment rates, child poverty, and income inequality. The SHEQuITE Network aims to increase and strengthen referrals from primary care providers around social determinants of health (SDOH) by exploring why and how referrals in the healthcare setting happen in rural Appalachian communities, in the context of a global pandemic. The greater goal of this network is to provide the opportunity to further develop collective impact initiatives to reduce morbidity and mortality, improve health outcomes, and enhance overall health in Northwest North Carolina. In alignment with the goal of addressing gaps in healthcare delivery, specifically healthcare worker engagement, referrals to care based on social determinants of health, and quality improvement project development in local primary care practices, the teams work includes creating a bi-directional rural health network composed of primary care clinics and interdisciplinary healthcare researchers to engage the community through collaborative assessment, collective impact initiatives, quality improvement project development, and data sharing.
The presentation will focus on recent planning and data collection efforts to increase and strengthen referrals from primary care providers around SDOH by exploring why and how referrals in the healthcare setting happen in rural Appalachian communities in the context of the global pandemic. This includes: 1) development and content validation of a primary care engagement survey and 2) initial data collection efforts surrounding provider engagement and burnout, referral practices, self-efficacy and confidence in making referrals based on SDOH.