SocHx: Danielle’s RX
Policy Advocacy Recommendation by Marie Garlock, PhD & inspired by Danielle Bailey-Lash
Improve Social History by incorporating environmental proximity into patient notes as a standard practice for all clinicians
Learn from Danielle: listen to a short audio excerpt and read a brief interview excerpt
Why? Honoring Danielle Bailey-Lash’s Vision
What? Ask this simple question, record patient response:
“What is your proximity to any polluting industrial facility?
Location: none, 0-3 miles, 3-6 miles, or 6-9 miles
Concern: Residence, Workplace, or School
Type: Waste storage site, Production / Processing facility, or Extraction / Piping infrastructure (note material, air/water/other)
Where? In all healthcare professionals’ encounters with patients, in the admission note, or in the post encounter note (PEN). Include in the social history (SocHx) portion of patient record (SOAP: Subjective-Objective-Assessment-Plan).
How? Phased public goals
Step 1: voluntary sign-on by healthcare professionals
Step 2: hospital systems adopt standards
Step 3: statewide health policy, eventually a national practice; confidential and automated medical record extraction of data sets to broadly improve patient care
Confirm your participation — as a healthcare professional, patient advocate, or to help organize next steps regionally or statewide, marie@itisinyou.org, 919.607.5533.