Penn Medicine outreach addresses health-related social needs
For five years, Penn Medicine’s Social Needs Response Team has connected patients to vital support foundational to good health.
2 min. read
“If you don’t know when your next meal is going to be, then taking your medication on time or even going to your doctor’s appointment is not a priority,” says Ana Bonilla Martinez, program manager of Penn Medicine’s Center for Health Equity Advancement (CHEA).
Leaders of the Center for Health Equity Advancement including Rose Thomas (left) and Jaya Aysola (second from left).
(Image: Courtesy of Penn Medicine Magazine)
Bonilla Martinez, who coordinates Penn Medicine’s Social Needs Response Team, sees firsthand how food insecurity, housing instability, unemployment, lack of transportation, and other factors can significantly impact a person’s ability to prioritize or maintain their health.
Since 2020, the team has been helping patients by directly addressing health-related social needs like these—an effort that has not only helped people in Philadelphia and surrounding regions manage underlying needs that impact their health, but has enhanced the way Penn educates future health care providers.
Jaya Aysola, an associate professor of general internal medicine and the founder and executive director of CHEA, says as COVID-19-related resources were phased out and patients were still facing similar barriers, it became evident that the team’s work was filling a vital role in the community. Five years later, the Social Needs Response Team has conducted over 12,000 patient encounters.
“Health care does not exist in a vacuum. Understanding the various challenges and barriers patients face that could impact their physical and mental well-being and providing resources to address those barriers is critical to improving outcomes and ensuring patient-centered, equitable, high-quality care,” says Rose Thomas, director of operations for CHEA.
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