A family-centered approach to social needs awareness in the pediatric emergency department

Objective We aimed to understand family preferences around reporting and receiving health-related social needs (HRSN) information by assessment modality during pediatric emergency department (PED) visits. Methods Families were randomized into paper (control), cell phone, or tablet modality groups by their child's exam room. Nurses alerted families to complete a single HRSN assessment during routine workflow. We used logistic regression and McNemar's test to assess discordance in modality preference. Results Forty-seven percent of families disclosed at least one HRSN across a total 611 assessments. Disclosure of HRSN was similar by modality. Twenty-three percent of those assigned tablet preferred cell phone (p < 0.001). Two-thirds of families preferred receiving digitally formatted community resources (email or text). There was no difference in preferred timing of HRSN assessment completion. Conclusions Assessment modality did not appear to influence family HRSN disclosure. Families were generally satisfied with all HRSN assessment modalities but demonstrated a particular preference in using personal cell phones over tablets. Digitally formatted community referrals also pose numerous advantages over conventional paper handouts. Innovation Use of personal cell phones is a novel, streamlined method of HRSN interventions in the clinical setting, performing similar to more conventional modalities, with a preference among families when compared to tablets.