Arjun Sharma

Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) are a broad range of environmental, behavioral, and socioeconomic conditions that influence health. SDoH has been shown to impact health outcomes significantly. Unmet SDoH needs, also referred to in the literature as social needs or social risks, have been associated with various adverse health conditions and diseases. Addressing unmet SDoH needs is a key policy goal as policymakers seek to mitigate health disparities. 

The healthcare industry has increased its focus on screening for unmet SDoH needs to improve health outcomes. Yet, it is unclear how often health professionals or social workers screening people for SDoH needs identify a need but don't have a resource to refer people to for the identified need. Prior research has surveyed patterns in the availability of aid for various SDoH needs across certain states and evaluated the disparities in spatial access to social services across Census tracts. However, a contemporaneous assessment of the capacity of aid programs in the poorest zip codes, which are likely to be the areas of highest demand, and the relative access to aid programs for vulnerable populations within these zip codes remains unexplored. 

This study addresses this knowledge gap by assessing the supply of aid programs for the three most requested aid categories of housing, food, and transportation in the poorest zip codes relative to demand. The supply of aid is assessed by compiling a list of the aid programs available to residents in the zip code. The demand for aid is assessed by gathering data on the number of 211 calls made by residents in the zip code for each social need. Comparing the availability of aid programs relative to the demand for aid will identify the capacity of social services to cope with demand within these zip codes. Screening aid programs within these zip codes for eligibility criteria corresponding to vulnerable subgroups such as females and veterans may help identify any subgroups with relatively impaired access to aid. The insights gained from this study may identify areas of low capacity to meet identified social needs and assist policymakers and providers in improving the allocation of aid resources and progressing health equity for disadvantaged populations.