Hi Cathy,

I completely agree. I had this article from the RWJF taped to the cork board at my desk and looked at it everyday wondering how I could get these services for the parents of my pediatric patients.   

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Awards $16 Million to Health Leads to Help Health Care Providers Address Social Factors

Boston–Health Leads, an organization which enables physicians and other health care providers to prescribe basic resources such as food and heat for their low-income patients, has received a $16 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The funding, which represents the largest single investment in Health Leads to date, will enable the organization to place service desks in more health care facilities and build a culture that makes it easier for doctors and nurses to address social factors affecting their patients’ health.

There is a growing consensus that the health care system must address social factors in order to effectively meet the clinical needs of patients. In a 2011 survey of 1,000 primary care physicians by RWJF, 85 percent of respondents said that patients’ social needs are as important to address as their medical conditions. Yet 80 percent of surveyed physicians reported they did not feel confident in their ability to meet those nonclinical needs. 

http://www.rwjf.org/en/library...lth-leads-to-he.html

The question becomes, how do we get those with the purse in the State of Michigan to see this as a valuable effort to improve citizens' lives and decrease the state's Medicaid costs at the same time? I don't know that answer but would sure be interested in listening!