The Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Social Needs of Adult Emergency Department Patients

Timothy H Gallagher; Kelly M Doran; Elizabeth A Samuels; Ryan P McCormack

doi:10.1089/heq.2022.0015

The Perceived Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Social Needs of Adult Emergency Department Patients

Health Equity. 2022 Aug 22;6(1):610-615. doi: 10.1089/heq.2022.0015. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Timothy H Gallagher¹, Kelly M Doran², Elizabeth A Samuels³, Ryan P McCormack⁴

Affiliations

¹ Rush University Department of Emergency Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
² Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine and the Department of Population Health, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
⁴ Ronald O. Perelman Department of Emergency Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.

Abstract

Objectives: We aim to assess the influence of COVID-19 on the social needs of emergency department (ED) patients, and assess patients' access to social services.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 175 purposively sampled adult ED patients.

Results: Approximately half of participants stated that COVID-19 negatively impacted their social needs with statistically significant differences observed for race, ethnicity, and insurance status. Many participants did not know of available social services, and a majority welcomed assistance from the ED.

Conclusion: This study suggests that unmet social needs have risen because of COVID-19, and EDs may be positioned to identify and assist affected patients.

Keywords: COVID-19; emergency department; social needs.

Abstract

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