Americans See Unmet Needs in Housing, Food, Social Connection as a Growing Concern and Significant Barrier to Health

-- 68% of Americans surveyed reported they experienced at least one unmet social need in the past year

-- 97% want medical providers to ask about social needs during care visits

-- Americans reporting unmet social needs are twice as likely to rate their health as fair or poor

-- In addition to the survey findings, Kaiser Permanente announced the first location for its new Thrive Local social health network

News provided by

Kaiser Permanente

Jun 04, 2019, 00:01 ET

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- One-third of Americans are grappling with stress tied to meeting their basic human needs such as stable housing, adequate food and reliable transportation, according to the results of a new national survey from Kaiser Permanente. The survey, Social Needs in America, also found that Americans overwhelmingly want health care providers to be involved in identifying and addressing these non-medical social needs.

These latest survey findings reveal that Americans are experiencing unmet social needs at significant rates. In fact, 68% of Americans surveyed reported they experienced at least one unmet social need in the past year. More than a quarter of those surveyed said that an unmet social need was a barrier to health, with 21% prioritizing paying for food or rent over seeing a doctor or getting a medication.

The national survey asked people about barriers they face in meeting social needs, how those barriers prevent them from accessing necessary health care, and how they want their doctors, nurses and other care providers to help bridge those gaps.

"At Kaiser Permanente we think holistically about health, which includes medical care and other factors like access to food, transportation and housing," said Kaiser Permanente chairman and CEO Bernard J. Tyson. "By helping close the gap on social needs, we have an opportunity to advance the health of communities across the country and safeguard everyone's right to thrive."

Among the survey's topline findings:

Americans view social needs as equally important to their health as medical care, with 89% of respondents saying safe and stable housing is very or extremely important to health and 80% saying reliable transportation is very or extremely important.
Those experiencing unmet social needs were twice as likely to rate their health as fair or poor compared to those who did not. A third of respondents reported experiencing stress related to social needs, and 28% of respondents reported that a social need was a barrier to care in the last year. In addition, 39% frequently or occasionally experienced stress over accessing food or balanced meals and 35% experienced stress over housing.
The vast majority of Americans want their medical providers to ask about social needs, with 97% of respondents saying their providers should ask about social needs during medical visits. Only 10% said they would feel nervous or annoyed by such questions.
Social needs are predictors of physical and mental health. Survey respondents who reported experiencing an unmet social need in the past year were more than twice as likely to rate their health as fair or poor (16%) compared to those who did not experience an unmet social need (6%).

Expanded survey results can be found here.

Along with releasing the survey results, Kaiser Permanente is also announcing the first location of its Thrive Local social needs resources network in its Northwest Region, which includes Oregon and southwest Washington State. Medical providers there are working to incorporate the sophisticated tool into the organization's electronic health records system to connect people with social resources to meet their specific needs.

Kaiser Permanente is on the forefront of addressing social needs for its members. Prior to the Thrive Local launch, a Kaiser Permanente member in Vancouver, Washington, described how her physician connected her with housing resources after discovering she was sleeping in her truck.

"We are eager to implement this network into our care delivery system because we know closing social care gaps will improve health outcomes," said Northwest Permanente CEO Imelda Dacones, MD. "Social determinants of health, or the economic and social conditions that influence health, drive most health outcomes. To address and create total health, we, as physicians, must have systems and networks that address our patients' social needs."

"We must ensure individuals have access to the health and social services they need to be well," said Bechara Choucair, MD, chief community health officer at Kaiser Permanente. "When we ask our members if they've had to skip a meal lately, if they can afford their medications, or if they have reliable transportation, we know the answers to those questions can tell us as much about their future health as their blood pressure tells us. When we can prevent negative health outcomes with access to social services, we can make our communities healthier for the 68 million people living there."

"We are intimately familiar with the types of challenges people are struggling with here in the Northwest, and we are eager to engage the appropriate community resources to address those specific needs," said Ruth Williams-Brinkley, regional president for Kaiser Permanente in the Northwest. "With Thrive Local, we are excited to have a powerful tool to improve the well-being not only of our members, but of entire communities as well."

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has a mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve 12.3 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal Permanente Medical Group physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/

For more information, contact:
Marc Brown, [email protected], 510-271-6328

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente