Lessons learned on social health integration: evaluating a novel social health integration and social risk-informed care online continuing professional development course for primary care providers

TL;DR

This study evaluates an online training course for healthcare providers to help them adjust care based on patients' social needs, finding that while the course was useful, more targeted strategies are needed for effective implementation.

Contribution

The paper introduces a co-designed online CPD course for social risk-informed care and evaluates its implementation using mixed methods.

Findings

Eighty-two individuals completed the online CPD course, with mixed survey participation rates.

Interviewees found the course valuable but requested more region-specific resources.

System-level barriers to social health integration were identified by participants.

Abstract

Adjusting clinical care to account for social risks and needs is vital to patient-centered care, but little attention has been paid to implementing it in routine practice. Kaiser Permanente co-designed and developed a continuing professional development (CPD) course to orient providers to adjustment activities, or social risk-informed care. We evaluated the dissemination and implementation of this course.

We evaluated the dissemination and implementation of the online CPD using the RE-AIM implementation framework and the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation for training and learning programs. Administrative records and completion reports were generated to track dissemination and completion. A pre- and post-survey design was utilized to assess provider changes in knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and self-efficacy in delivering social risk-informed care, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to describe effectiveness of the online CPD, adoption of social risk-informed care, and sustainability of the online CPD and other Kaiser Permanente social health integration initiatives.

From April 2022-February 2023, 82 individuals completed the online CPD; 52 participants completed the pre-survey and 38 completed the post-survey. A total of 17 interviews were conducted over two phases of qualitative data collection (passive dissemination versus active dissemination). Interviewees felt the online CPD provided foundational knowledge in social health and social risk-informed care but requested more region- and role-specific resources. They also identified several systems-level barriers to social health integration.

Co-designing medical education courses with various stakeholders is vital to ensuring relevant and effective educational material. However, high-quality, intentionally designed educational material needs to be complemented with multifaceted and targeted implementation strategies to achieve intended provider behavior change and improved patient outcomes.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-06971-9.

Figures