CPC Community Needs and SDOH 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which SDOH domain directly encompasses a patient's inability to afford prescription medications?
- Economic stability (Correct answer)
- Education access
- Health care access
- Neighborhood environment
Correct answer: Economic stability
Economic stability covers financial resources including income, employment, and ability to afford medications and basic needs.
Question 2: A community paramedic visits an elderly patient living alone who rarely leaves home due to mobility limitations. This patient is most at risk for which SDOH-related condition?
- Hypertension from poor diet
- Social isolation and depression (Correct answer)
- Occupational hazard exposure
- Lack of health insurance
Correct answer: Social isolation and depression
Homebound elderly patients with limited social contact are at high risk for social isolation, which is strongly linked to depression and poor health outcomes.
Question 3: When conducting a community health needs assessment (CHNA), which data source is MOST useful for identifying neighborhood-level health disparities?
- Individual patient chief complaints
- Census and demographic data (Correct answer)
- Hospital discharge diagnoses only
- Physician referral patterns
Correct answer: Census and demographic data
Census and demographic data provide population-level insights on income, education, housing, and race that reveal neighborhood health disparities.
Question 4: A community paramedic screens a 45-year-old patient using the PRAPARE tool. The patient reports unstable housing. The FIRST appropriate action is to:
- Document and close the encounter
- Refer to an emergency shelter resource (Correct answer)
- Notify law enforcement
- Recommend the patient purchase a home
Correct answer: Refer to an emergency shelter resource
Unstable housing is an immediate social need; the first response is to connect the patient with appropriate community resources such as emergency shelter.
Question 5: Food insecurity is classified under which of the five key SDOH domains identified by Healthy People 2030?
- Health care access and quality
- Economic stability (Correct answer)
- Social and community context
- Education access and quality
Correct answer: Economic stability
Food insecurity falls under the Economic Stability domain because access to adequate food is directly tied to income and financial resources.
Question 6: Which screening instrument is specifically designed to assess social determinants of health in clinical settings for the community paramedic?
- GCS (Glasgow Coma Scale)
- PRAPARE (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients' Assets, Risks, and Experiences) (Correct answer)
- PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire)
- AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test)
Correct answer: PRAPARE (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients' Assets, Risks, and Experiences)
PRAPARE is a standardized SDOH screening tool used by health workers, including community paramedics, to assess social risks and connect patients to resources.
Question 7: A community paramedic notes that a large portion of their service area lacks reliable public transportation. This observation relates primarily to which SDOH domain?
- Social and community context
- Neighborhood and built environment (Correct answer)
- Economic stability
- Education access and quality
Correct answer: Neighborhood and built environment
Transportation access is part of the Neighborhood and Built Environment domain, which includes physical infrastructure affecting residents' ability to access services.
CPC Community Needs and SDOH 2
Which SDOH domain directly encompasses a patient's inability to afford prescription medications?