Just Medicine 36. Because it helps! Making the most of the social history
The success of a treatment plan can depend heavily on social factors – for example, income, housing status, or whether or not someone has drug coverage. The social history is where we, as medical learners, trainees and practitioners, are meant to gather that information so that we can apply it in our care.
For this episode, host Sandra spoke to Dr. Ritika Goel, a family doctor and activist based in Toronto, about how to make the most of that part of our conversation with patients. What's important to ask about? And what can we do with the answers?
Resources:
- Download the IFITHELPS tool for taking and actioning a social history.
- Explore 211, a database of information for government and community-based, non-clinical health and social services across Canada, at 211.ca.
- Familiarize yourself with the Canada Disability Benefit, a new program to supplement the incomes of working-age folks living with disabilities. Applicants must be approved for the Disability Tax Credit, which requires certification by a medical practitioner.
- Learn more about social accountability in this article series in Canadian Family Physician: Buchman S, Woollard, R., Meili R, Goel R. Practising social accountability: From theory to action. Can Fam Physician. 2016 Jan;62(1):15-8. PMID: 26796826; PMCID: PMC4721832 .https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4721832/
- Have a listen to relevant past episodes, eg. on the structural determinants of health, providing trauma-informed care, and taking a good substance use history.
Credits:
Additional music by kontraa, used under the Pixabay content license.
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