• Anna Louise Steeves-Reece, Annette Marie Totten, Katherine DuBose Broadwell, Dawn Michele Richardson, Christina Nicolaidis, and Melinda Marie Davis.
• Oregon Health & Science University-Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, Oregon; Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network, School of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon. Electronic address: steevesr@ohsu.edu.
• Am J Prev Med. 2022 May 1; 62 (5): e303e315e303-e315.

IntroductionHealthcare organizations increasingly are screening patients for social needs (e.g., food, housing) and referring them to community resources. This systematic mixed studies review assesses how studies evaluate social needs resource connections and identifies patient- and caregiver-reported factors that may inhibit or facilitate resource connections.MethodsInvestigators searched PubMed and CINAHL for articles published from October 2015 to December 2020 and used dual review to determine inclusion based on a priori selection criteria. Data related to study design, setting, population of interest, intervention, and outcomes were abstracted. Articles' quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Data analysis was conducted in 2021.ResultsThe search identified 34 articles from 32 studies. The authors created a taxonomy of quantitative resource connection measures with 4 categories: whether participants made contact with resources, received resources, had their social needs addressed, or rated some aspect of their experience with resources. Barriers to resource connections were inadequacy, irrelevancy, or restrictiveness; inaccessibility; fears surrounding stigma or discrimination; and factors related to staff training and resource information sharing. Facilitators were referrals' relevancy, the degree of support and simplicity embedded within the interventions, and interventions being comprehensive and inclusive.DiscussionThis synthesis of barriers and facilitators indicates areas where healthcare organizations may have agency to improve the efficacy of social needs screening and referral interventions. The authors also recommend that resource connection measures be explicitly defined and focus on whether participants received new resources and whether their social needs were addressed.Copyright © 2022 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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