About
Assistant Professor
Department of Pediatrics
UCLA
Project Title: The Impact of a Medical-Financial Partnership on Parent Health-Related Quality of Life and Child Developmental Risk Among Low-Income Families: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Mentors:
Peter Szilagyi, MD, MPH - UCLA
Paul Chung, MD, MS - UCLA
Kenneth Wells, MD, MPH - UCLA
Doug Jutte, MD, MPH – UC Berkeley
Geri Ryan, PhD – RAND
Multidisciplinary Expertise:
Social Determinants of Health, Primary Care Clinical Redesign, Pediatric Health Services Research, Implementation Science
Project Description:
Poverty is a dominant driver of population health and health systems are increasingly addressing social determinants of health and social needs, such as food insecurity, housing insecurity, and other symptoms of financial hardship. Financial coaching is a standardized approach to improving family financial health through motivational interviewing and financial education, which has been proven to increase savings and reduce debt in low-income households. Our study will test whether there are health benefits to low-income families of addressing their financial hardship directly by providing them with financial coaching in addition to social needs navigation in a primary pediatric clinic. We will develop scalable approaches to clinical implementation of financial coaching and examine its effects on parent health-related quality of life, child developmental risk, and primary care utilization. Our study will inform the growing field of medical-financial partnerships through a national learning network of clinicians and financial capabilities professionals.