Social Needs
Purpose: Strengthen the capacity of individuals and teams to identify and address their patients’ social needs. This involves developing processes at both the patient and community levels—such as implementing screening and referral systems for individual patients, and establishing partnerships with local organizations to support broader community needs.
Audience: Those working in primary care clinics and other health centers. This can include referral specialists, administrative staff, community health workers, traditional health workers, data analysts, developers, providers, and more.
Topics: Social Needs in Health Care: Why It Matters; Getting Started: Building Your Screening Foundation; Empathic Inquiry & Trauma-Informed Care; Building Referral Systems That Work; Community Information Exchange (CIE): Connecting Systems
Schedule: 12 sessions. Thursdays, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Pacific time, January 7 - March 26, 2026
Faculty
Sara Wild, MPH, Health Policy Manager, Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network, OHSU
James McCormack, PhD, MT, Senior Research Associate, Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network, OHSU
Cole Ray, LMSW, Care Coordination Manager, The Corvallis Clinic Part of Optum
Ariel Singer, MPH, Principal Consultant, Waterwheel Health Consulting
