“I think it’s a great question to ask,” Lottie Titus, a San Francisco resident who shares parenting of her three grandchildren, told NPR. According to Ms. Titus, talking about finances with a family physician “can establish why there are so many illnesses, so many challenges, so much depression.”
Some healthcare organizations agree, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, according to the report. James Duffee, MD, a child psychiatrist in Columbus, Ohio, and the lead author of an AAP policy statement on how poverty affects children’s health, told NPR that pediatricians should “think broadly about the context in which a child is born.”
Some organizations, like San Francisco-based Center for Youth Wellness, encourage pediatricians to use the CDC’s adverse childhood experiences screening test to learn more about patients’ lives outside the physician’s office.
“But doctors aren’t taught about ACE scores in medical school, and some are reluctant to give patients the test because they think it’s too invasive or brings up problems that can’t be treated,” according to the NPR report.
To learn more about the ACE screening test, click here.
More articles on population health:
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center readies greenhouse for community opening
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Top 10 most, least fit cities in the United States
