SONNET
Welcome to the SONNET website!
Learn how we help Kaiser Permanente design, evaluate, and implement effective social health interventions that address and improve our members' social health.
SONNET’s goal is to improve the health of Kaiser Permanente members by using our scientific capabilities to inform social health policy and practice.
Across Kaiser Permanente, SONNET is creating a national network of applied researchers with expertise in implementation, research, and evaluation. SONNET's role is to help each KP region design, evaluate, and implement effective social health interventions that address and improve our members' social health. We encourage KP leaders, administrators, and clinicians to reach out to us at sonnet@kp.org to learn more about how SONNET can assist with social health initiatives across the enterprise.
SONNET's work is made possible with funding from KP's National Community Health Program in support of the organization’s goal to achieve equitable health outcomes for all members and improve conditions for health in our communities.
Our latest reports
Social risks and health care utilization
This project examined data from KP's 2020 National Social Health Survey and found that emergency room visits were 33% more likely among members with any social risk and 51% more likely among members with any severe social risk. This relationship did not change during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project lead: Morgan Clennin, PhD, MPH, scientific research associate at KP Colorado Institute for Health Research.
Social risks and racial differences in chronic illness outcomes
This project also took a deeper dive into data from KP's 2020 National Social Health Survey, finding that Black members had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension compared to white members — and that 11% of the difference in these outcomes can be attributed to the most common social needs we observed: financial strain, food insecurity, and housing instability.
Project leads: Jennifer Gander, PhD, investigator at KP Georgia Center for Research and Evaluation, and Suma Vupputuri, PhD, MPH, research scientist at KP Mid-Atlantic Permanente Research Institute.
Who we are
We are a learning network of researchers and evaluators from across KP. Our team includes our executive sponsors, our Coordinating Center at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, and our Evaluation and Research Committee.
What we do
We work to improve KP members' social health by convening researchers and connecting them with KP leaders, consulting on best practices for KP social health interventions, and communicating what we learn across KP and beyond.
Newsletter
Through our newsletter, we share what we learn about the design and evaluation of effective social health interventions with audiences inside and outside of Kaiser Permanente. To subscribe, please email us at sonnet@kp.org.
Land Acknowledgment
Our Seattle offices sit on the occupied land of the Duwamish and by the shared waters of the Coast Salish people, who have been here thousands of years and remain. Learn about practicing land acknowledgment.