RI Aging & Health-Related Social Needs Learning-and-Action Lab Phase 2 Report

MLPB’s Aging and Health Related Social Needs (HRSN) Learning-and-Action Lab (the “Lab”) is a two-phased initiative designed to inform and improve clinic-based HRSN screening, referral, and problem-solving strategies impacting older adults who live in Rhode Island. Through generous funding from the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Community Health Fund (BCBSRI’s advised fund at the Rhode Island Foundation), and with programmatic support from the Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island (CTC-RI), the Lab explores how the screening experience of RI-based older adults (age 55 and over) can be enhanced, and how care teams and insurers can be more responsive to patients’ goals.

Phase 1 centered the perspectives of Rhode Islanders with lived experience and non-medical professional expertise to identify key priorities among this population. Phase 2 integrated members of clinical practices in Rhode Island to identify shared insights and develop concrete recommendations to improve HRSN screening, referral, and problem solving.