SONNET
Welcome to the SONNET website!
Learn how we help Kaiser Permanente design, evaluate, and implement effective social health interventions that address and improve our members' social health.
SONNET’s goal is to improve the health of Kaiser Permanente members by using our scientific capabilities to inform social health policy and practice.
SONNET is Kaiser Permanente’s Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation. We are a network of researchers and operational leaders who work together to advance Kaiser Permanente’s Social Health Practice (SHP) objectives and improve our members’ social health. SONNET brings together partners from Kaiser Permanente National and the organization’s 8 regional markets and research centers to inform key SHP decisions, conduct research that advances the field of social health, and share what we learn along the way.
SONNET's work is made possible with funding from the Kaiser Permanente Office of Community and Social Health in support of the organization’s goal to achieve equitable health outcomes for all members and improve conditions for health in our communities.
Our latest publications
Social risks and acute health care utilization
Clennin M, Schootman M, Tucher E, Reifler L, Vupputuri S, Brown M, Adams J, Daugherty S (2025). Social Risk and Acute Healthcare Utilization Among Insured Adults. JAMA Network Open, 8(4), e254253, doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.4253. Full text link
Social health and intersecting identities of age, income, and race and ethnicity
Brown M, Cushing-Haugen K, Wellman R, Dorsey C, Norris C, Adams J, Steiner J, Shah A, Lewis C (2025). Intersectional Analysis of Social Risk and Need Among a Large Representative Sample of Adults From an Integrated Health System in the U.S. AJPM Focus, 4(1), 100283, doi:10.1016/j.focus.2024.100283. Full text link
Who we are
We are a learning network of researchers, evaluators, and operational leaders from across Kaiser Permanente. Our activities are led through our Coordinating Center at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, with oversight from our executive sponsors.
What we do
To help Kaiser Permanente achieve its Social Health Practice goals, SONNET taps into the network's 4 key scientific capabilities: research and evaluation; just-in-time review and analysis; external grant development; and leadership in the field.
Newsletter
Through our newsletter, we share what we learn about the design and evaluation of effective social health interventions with audiences inside and outside of Kaiser Permanente. To subscribe, please email us at sonnet@kp.org.
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.