Social Determinants of Health in Community Pharmacy Training: Technician Registration

Addressing the social determinants of health (SDOH), the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, has been identified as a national priority. Despite the best efforts of healthcare teams, social factors such as illiteracy, bias, poverty, lack of transportation, unstable housing, lack of health insurance and unemployment can significantly affect a patient’s adherence to the treatment plan. Failure to adequately mitigate these social factors may result in poorer health outcomes and contribute to health disparities. Therefore, it is increasingly important for healthcare providers and organizations to screen patients for social factors that may affect their health care. Screening for SDOH currently occurs in many clinical settings, including emergency department and primary care clinics. There exists an area of opportunity to leverage community pharmacists to make a significant impact in identifying and addressing SDOH. The purpose of this knowledge-based activity is to review the importance of screening patients for social risk factors in community pharmacy, and increase comfort with engaging patients in these conversations.