Nurses on the move: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation nurse faculty scholars and their action on the social determinants of health

Social Determinants of Health Within Nursing Curricula: Nurse Educators' Knowledge and Attitudes

BACKGROUND

Social determinants of health (SDOH) recently have received national attention. Nursing curricula historically have focused on the mastery of clinical skills, whereas topics related to social justice and equity have been relegated to courses in community health. Little is known about nurse educators' knowledge of SDOH and attitudes about incorporating SDOH content into existing nursing curricula. This study was designed to address identified gaps in knowledge about SDOH and faculty attitudes on including SDOH content into nursing curricula.

METHOD

This study used a quantitative cross-sectional design. A sample of 276 nursing faculty participated in this study. Chi-square analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Overall, knowledge of SDOH was high. Attitudes about including content on SDOH were favorable. Differences in knowledge and attitudes about SDOH were noted when compared by participant demographics.

CONCLUSION

More research is needed on effectively incorporating SDOH content into existing nursing curricula. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(11):614-622.].

Teaching strategies to develop skills to address social inequalities in nursing education: A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

to identify teaching strategies for developing skills to address social inequalities in nursing education.

DESIGN

Following the Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, a scoping review was performed to answer the following research question: "What are the teaching strategies employed to develop nurses' skills to address social inequalities?"

DATA SOURCES

Bibliographical search was conducted seven electronic databases until December 29, 2020, and updated on March 25, 2022. Papers published in Portuguese, English, and Spanish on competence and professional practice, social inequality, education/training, and nursing were included.

REVIEW METHODS

Seven reviewers screened the articles by reading titles and abstracts. Studies on teaching strategies used to develop nurses' skills to address social inequalities were included. Of the 1137 articles found, 61 were selected by the first screening, and 23 were included in the final sample. Data were analyzed and summarized as a narrative.

RESULTS

The included papers were published between 2000 and 2020, predominantly in the United States. Curricular and learning strategies, including service, experience, and interactive, were the most common, followed by university programs and civil society initiatives. Courses, classes, debates, and practical activities predominated as teaching activities. Teaching techniques focus on resources such as posters, videos, workshops, and seminars.

CONCLUSIONS

This review identified teaching strategies used to develop nurses' skills to address social inequalities. Curricular initiatives, learning strategies, university programs and civil society initiatives can expand students' understanding of social inequalities and be used to develop skills.

Nursing Education and Social Determinants of Health: A Content Analysis

BACKGROUND

By integrating a social determinants of health (SDOH) perspective into nursing programs, there is potential to reduce health disparities shaped by these forces. However, little is known about the extent to which nursing program curricula include SDOH education.

METHOD

This study used course descriptions from 32 nursing programs in the United States to perform a frequency and content analysis on required course offerings. Healthy People 2020 was referenced to determine coding categories.

RESULTS

Although 18.5% of courses implicitly referenced SDOH, only 1% made explicit references to SDOH. Implicit references were likely to include themes such as cultural sensitivity and diversity, or social, cultural, economic, and political factors influencing health.

CONCLUSION

Although several required nursing course descriptions made implicit references to SDOH, explicit use of the term SDOH is still limited. Faculty, administrators, and program accrediting bodies must push to incorporate SDOH more thoroughly into nursing education. [J Nurs Educ. 2022;61(9):516-523.].

Health Care Hotspotting: A Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Super-utilizers of the health care system compose a small percentage of the population, yet use the most health care resources. Hotspotting addresses this issue by providing high-quality, personalized care to this population.

PURPOSE

This review examined how hotspotting has been defined, implemented, and measured.

METHODS

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guided this review. Twelve databases were searched for hotspotting interventions in practice settings.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies were included. Hotspotting was primarily defined by the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers and relied on multiple professions, including nursing. Hotspotting interventions addressed access to care, social determinants of health, patient engagement, and health literacy. Some studies indicated that hotspotting reduced readmissions and emergency department visits and increased use in social services.

CONCLUSIONS

Patients benefit from an interprofessional, personalized approach to their care planning. Hotspotting can lead to high-quality care through building trusted relationships.

Cultural primer for cardiometabolic health: health disparities, structural factors, community, pathways to improvement, and clinical applications

The quest to optimize cardiometabolic health has created great interest in nonmedical health variables in the population, community-based research and coordination, and addressing social, ethnic, and cultural barriers. All of these may be of equal or even greater importance than classical health care delivery in achieving individual well-being. One dominant issue is health disparity - causes, methods of reduction, and community versus other levels of solutions. This communication summarizes some major views regarding social structures, followed by amplification and synthesis of central ideas in the literature. The role of community involvement, tools, and partnerships is also presented in this Primer. Recent views of how these approaches could be incorporated into cardiometabolic initiatives and strategies follow, with implications for research. Two examples comparing selected aspects of community leverage and interventions in relation to individual approaches to health care equity are examined in depth: overall performance in reducing cardiovascular risk and mortality, and the recent National Diabetes Prevention Program, both touching upon healthy diets and adherence. Finally, the potential that precision medicine offers, and possible effects on disparities are also discussed.