When a receptionist hands out a form to fill out at a doctor’s office, the questions are usually about medical issues: What’s the visit for? Are you allergic to anything? Up to date on vaccines?
But some health organizations are now asking much more general questions: Do you have trouble paying your bills? Do you feel safe at home? Do you have enough to eat? Research shows these factors can be as important to health as exercise habits or whether you get enough sleep.
Research has begun to show that a person’s ZIP code can be as important to her health as her genetic code.
That’s why Shannon McGrath was asked to fill in a “life situation form” this spring when she turned up for her first obstetrics appointment at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Ore. She was 36 weeks pregnant. (Kaiser Health News is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.)
[For more of this story, written by Kristian Foden-Vencil, go to http://khn.org/news/bureaucrat...-health-disparities/]
Comments (0)