Know who is at risk
Family physicians and other health professionals use this tool(External link)(External link) to identify if financial strain affects their patients. The tool is:
- Individualized for Alberta and incorporates local resources and supports
- Designed for quick and intuitive use in day-to-day practice
- Endorsed by the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) and its provincial Chapters
Intervene
Given the magnitude of research demonstrating the aftermath of low socioeconomic status on health, intervening health practices are critical to improving health.1,2
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Primary care based social interventions offer an important means to avoid threats to individual and community health posed by adverse social conditions.1
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Effective interventions include those that target individual-level determinants, connections with community resources, community-focused partnerships and structures within health teams that affect equity.1
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Alberta-based primary care teams worked with AMA to develop and test a RIFS change package to help physicians and team members implement practice changes that improve care for patients living with financial strain.
Laying the foundation
- Bloch G, Rozmovits L. Implementing social interventions in primary care. Can Med Assoc J. 2021;193(44):E1696 LP-E1701. doi:10.1503/cmaj.210229
- Morton PM. Childhood Disadvantage and Adult Functional Status: Do Early-Life Exposures Jeopardize Healthy Aging? J Aging Health. January 2022:08982643211064723. doi:10.1177/08982643211064723
- Pinto A, Shenfeld E, Aratangy T, et al. Routinely asking patients about income in primary care: a mixed-methods study. BJGP Open. October 2021:BJGPO.2021.0090. doi:10.3399/BJGPO.2021.0090
- 1. Wintemute K, Noor M, Bhatt A, et al. Implementation of targeted screening for poverty in a large primary care team in Toronto, Canada: a feasibility study. BMC Fam Pract. 2021;22(1):194. doi:10.1186/s12875-021-01514-9
