Social determinants of health: A new social health screening tool to identify social needs of parents/legal guardians of children admitted to the Children's Ward at the Lyell McEwin Hospital

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There is overwhelming evidence that adverse social and economic conditions have a negative impact on the health, welfare and development of children. Poor education, unemployment, financial and food insecurity and housing instability are linked with poor nutrition, developmental problems, increased risk of dysfunctional psychosocial behaviour and short- and long-term diseases of childhood and into adulthood. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that healthcare providers should routinely screen for and adopt interventions that address social risks as a mandatory aspect of healthcare. Innovative multidisciplinary team-based approaches are critical in hospital systems to identify social risk factors, and to refer families with unmet needs to community-based resources. The Lyell McEwin Hospital is the principal tertiary hospital serving a substantially disadvantaged community, with several suburbs in its catchment having significant relative disadvantage across a number of indicators. Australian Bureau of Statistics data show that families living in this catchment area have poorer educational achievement, greater unemployment, lower income and greater mortgage or rental stress compared with other areas. This is a 2-arm randomised control trial that will test electronic collection of a new social needs screening tool that will be adminstered either face-to-face with a health worker/researcher or be self-completed. The study will be conducted at the Lyell McEwin Hospital. The proposed study population includes adult parents/legal guardian(s) of children aged 0-5 years admitted to the Children’s Ward. Currently, there is no screening tool used in the Children’s Ward to identify social needs of families and this study will help determine the acceptability and feasibility of implementing such a tool.