87 - An economic bundle to improve economic well-being and health equity

Poster Number: 87
Publication Number: 87.211

JULIO MA SHUM, Boston University School of Medicine, BOSTON, MA, United States; MANSI THAKRAR, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States; DIVYA VEERAPANENI, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States; Lucy E. Marcil, Boston University School of Medicine, BOSTON, MA, United States

Background: Financial strain has worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic, disproportionately impacts children of color, and negatively impacts child health. Economic resources can improve health via direct and indirect effects. However, many resources are underutilized. Evidence is lacking regarding effective methods to systematically connect eligible families to resources.

Objective: We aimed to assess whether a bundled approach to providing economic resources in the newborn period is needed, acceptable, and feasible.

Design/Methods: We conducted a systematic pilot from July- Aug 2021 to assess the need, acceptability, and feasibility of connecting parents of newborns to a bundle of six economic resources (Table 2). We purposefully selected resources that are available, underutilized, and for which we have a resource connection workflow.

We systematically tested this approach with one tri-lingual Patient Navigator (PN) with every infant family he interacted with. A research assistant called families 4 weeks later to re-attempt connection if not yet connected and if the service was still desired. We received exempt status from the IRB.

Results: Sixty-one percent of families (Nf56) identified as Black, 72% had Medicaid, and, of parents who completed a routine a social need survey (n=34), were interested in a mean of 1.38 resources (Table 1). Parents were interested in more resources in our economic bundle (3.43, p < 0.001).

A minority of families (0-45%) were receiving each resource. At follow up, we found increases in connection to several resources. Among those not receiving resources, interest remained high (Table 2).Conclusion(s): A bundled approach to providing economic resources in the newborn period is needed, acceptable, and feasible. We found a significant increase in connection to several resources. Connection rates did not increase for resources with complex application processes. Interest remained high interest, which may reflect ongoing obstacles and the need for multiple touchpoints to successfully connect families.

Parents were more interested in resources in our bundle than on the clinic’s social needs survey. This could reflect more interest (1) in the specific resources we offered, (2) when resources are offered rather than when asked about resource insecurity, or (3) due to the verbal conversation. This approach is a potentially impactful intervention to increase economic resources. It needs to be rigorously tested and studied at scale.
Table 1. Patient Population Demographics
Table 2. Baseline and Follow-up Rates of Economic Resources Received by Patient Population