Dr Melissa O'Connor Discusses Impact of SDOH on Older Adults, Home Health Outcomes

Social determinants of health have a substantial impact on care outcomes of older adults being managed by skilled home health clinicians and addressing these issues continues to be a challenge, said Melissa O'Connor, PhD, MBA, RN, FGSA, FAAN, endowed professor in community and home health nursing, M. Louise Fitzpatrick School of Nursing, Villanova University, and director, Gerontology Interest Group.

Transcript

Can you describe some examples of how social determinants of health, especially housing and food insecurity, are affecting older adults?

So, we are learning more and more about how influential social determinants of health really are. Stable housing and food insecurity can be huge issues for older adults. Transportation is also a very big issue for older adults.

All of these things come into consideration when someone is receiving skilled home health by clinicians. They often try to assist patients and their caregivers with these fundamental needs, and sometimes they're very successful—other times it's more challenging. So, if an older adult's housing is unstable, and sometimes they're homeless but they still need care, it will have a tremendous impact on their physical and mental health outcomes. It's an uphill battle.

It's also similar for food insecurity. Not having access to food, sometimes not nutritious food, but even food in general, is extremely anxiety provoking. Also, many older adults suffer from chronic conditions that are best managed by adhering to a particular diet, such as low sodium or low sugar. Less expensive foods are often very high in both things, sodium and sugar, and that may be the food that some of our older adults have access to because of the various issues related to social determinants of health.

So, it absolutely can impact their physical and mental well-being, as well as how successful they are able to live on their own after home health discharges. It continues to be a problem.