SONNET is a national network of applied researchers who help design, evaluate, and implement effective social health interventions to improve member health across Kaiser Permanente. SONNET's work is made possible with funding from KP's National Community Health Program.
Highlights from this issue:
- Results from a concept mapping approach used to rank important research and operational questions that could advance social health practice at Kaiser Permanente
- Results on the design and evaluation of ‘Addressing Social Health in Medicine,’ a web-based CME course launched at Kaiser Permanente
- SONNET's new journal information tool: A handy compilation of social health publication opportunities for social health researchers
The latest report from SONNET’s Evaluation and Research Committee (ERC) focuses on social needs among Kaiser Permanente Northwest members age 65 and older — and on how these needs are linked to health care utilization. Access this report and read more SONNET news in our summer 2023 newsletter.
SONNET recently welcomed Meagan Brown, PhD, as our new associate director while saying a grateful goodbye to former co-director Cara Lewis, PhD. Meagan is leading several SONNET projects, including Kaiser Permanente's 2022 National Social Health Survey, results of which will be released later this summer. Learn more about the national survey and other recent SONNET projects in our spring 2023 newsletter.
Maile Tauali'i, PhD, MPH, is a mom of 6 and a hula practitioner who runs a food forest farm in Oahu. She is also a KP clinical investigator and a valued member of SONNET’s Evaluation and Research Committee. Our winter 2023 newsletter features a snapshot of Maile's work and her advice to researchers interested in social health — along with new SONNET reports on the link between social needs and health outcomes.
Anand Shah and Meagan Brown presented the closing keynote at Modern Healthcare's 2022 Social Determinants of Health Symposium, sharing results of recent SONNET-led research that sheds light on the prevalence of social needs among KP members.
New SONNET study looks at patients' unmet social risks and their desire for assistance.
KP researchers conduct the largest known study on loneliness – assessing data from 24,000 KP members – to better understand the impact of loneliness on health, factors that contribute to loneliness, and what can help stop loneliness.
SONNET's new directors Katie Coleman and Cara Lewis share their vision for bridging research and operations to advance social health at KP and beyond.
By: Consuelo Marin Norris, MA, and Cara C. Lewis, PhD
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, SONNET Director and Senior Researcher at Institute for Health Research
By: Sumita Bhatia, MPH, MS, Care Management Institute (CMI)
By: Douglas W. Roblin, PhD, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Research Institute and Kristina H. Lewis , MD MPH SM, Wake Forest School of Medicine
By: Adam L. Sharp, MD, MSc, Southern California Permanente Medical Group,, Alyssa Tjajadi-Millan, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and Tadashi T. Funahashi , MD, Kaiser Permanente Southern California
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Claudia L. Nau, PhD, Research Scientist I, Southern California Permanente Medical Group
By: Courtnee Hamity, PhD, Principal Consultant, Center for Evaluation & Analytics and Ana Jackson, PhD, Director of Evaluation
By: Reesa Laws - Coordinating Center Manager / Technical Research Program Manager
By: Jayme Magallanes, MPH - Senior Project Manager of National Medicaid and Charitable Health Care
By: Loel S. Solomon, PhD, Vice President of Kaiser Permanente Community Health
By: Sarita Mohanty, MD, MPH, MBA and Sarah Threlfall, MPH
By: Matthew Banegas, PhD, MPH and Nicole L. Friedman, MS
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Colorado
By: Rachel Gold, PhD, MPH
By: Adam Sharp, MD, MS
If you're a KP employee, you might be interested in the internal version of our newsletter, which includes news customized for our KP community. Please email us at sonnet@kp.org to subscribe or to request a past issue.
In this follow up to our 2020 survey, we heard from more than 6,300 members nationwide about their social needs
and desire for assistance from Kaiser Permanente. Project lead: Meagan Brown, PhD, MPH.
Looking at data from KP’s Medicare Total Health Assessment survey, this SONNET project found that having more social needs was linked to higher emergency department (ED) utilization and hospital admissions among older adult members of KP Northwest. Project lead: David Mosen, PhD, MPH.
This SONNET project took a deep dive into data from KP's 2020 National Social Health Survey, finding that Black members had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension compared to white members — and that 11% of the difference in these outcomes can be attributed to the most common social needs we observed: financial strain, food insecurity, and housing instability.
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.