Addressing Social Needs and Social Determinants of Health for People Experiencing SMI-View Presentation

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The SMI Advisor webinar, led by Alexia Wolf from the Delaware Behavioral Health Consortium, focused on addressing social needs and determinants of health for individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Key speaker Dr. Shoma Saha emphasized the crucial interaction between mental health and social needs and introduced the Pathways to Population Health Equity framework, which provides strategies to assess and address these issues at both individual and community levels.<br /><br />Dr. Saha used the story of "Billy" as an exemplar, highlighting how environmental and systemic factors, such as opioid addiction and poverty, intersect with SMI and impact life outcomes. She advocated for holistic approaches that not only address individual medical conditions but also broader social determinants like housing, economic security, and systemic inequities.<br /><br />Examples from communities and systems, such as efforts in Delaware and innovative care models like the Pathways Community Hub, illustrated the positive impact of integrated support systems. These systems focus on stabilizing housing, providing medical and mental health treatment, and mobilizing community resources to address upstream causes of health disparities.<br /><br />The webinar called for a balanced, multi-level intervention strategy, combining immediate patient care with community-wide initiatives. This approach includes advocating for better treatment access and addressing root causes, such as systemic racism and economic inequality, to create sustainable health improvements for those with SMI. Participants were encouraged to engage with these strategies and use available tools to foster change within their practices and communities.

Keywords

SMI Advisor

social determinants

mental health

Pathways to Population Health Equity

holistic approaches

systemic inequities

community resources

integrated support systems

multi-level intervention

systemic racism