Kaiser Permanente 2022 National Social Health Survey
Results from Kaiser Permanente's 2022 National Social Health Survey
Kaiser Permanente's 2022 National Social Health Survey is a follow up to our 2020 survey, in which we heard from a representative group more than 10,000 members nationwide about their social needs and desire for assistance from Kaiser Permanente. For the follow-up survey, we reached out to these same members to learn more about differences in social needs over time and across demographics and lines of business. We also conducted qualitative interviews with a small subset of members who completed both surveys.
We're excited to share final results in these 3 reports:
High-level results from the survey and interviews
More than 6,300 Kaiser Permanente members nationwide responded to the 2022 National Social Health Survey. Key quantitative findings include:
- More than 2 in 3 members (68%) have at least 1 social need, and 90% of members with Medicaid plans have at least 1 social need.
- Members with any social need are 6x more likely to report fair or poor mental/emotional health and 3x more likely to report fair or poor physical health.
- 61% of members with social needs are interested in receiving assistance from Kaiser Permanente.
Learn more in the final report on quantitative results.
We also conducted qualitative interviews with 48 members who completed both the 2020 and 2022 surveys. Key qualitative findings include:
- Members have variable perceptions of the health system’s role in providing social support — and many don't have a clear understanding of why health systems are screening for social needs.
- Members emphasized the importance of trusting relationships in their willingness to talk about social needs with their care teams. .
Learn more in the final report on qualitative results.
We are grateful to the thousands of Kaiser Permanente members across all 8 regional markets who completed the 2022 survey — and to the dozens of members who shared more detailed perspectives with us in interviews. Thanks also to the many SONNET and Kaiser Permanente collaborators who contributed their time and expertise to collecting data and summarizing results.
The quantitative survey was led by SONNET Associate Director, Meagan Brown, PhD, MPH. The qualitative interviews were led by SONNET collaborators Clarissa Hsu, PhD; David Mosen, PhD, MPH; and Dea Papajorgji-Taylor, MPH.
Learn more
Other recent reports
Social risks and health care utilization among older adults
Looking at data from KP’s Medicare Total Health Assessment survey, this SONNET project found that having more social needs was linked to higher emergency department (ED) utilization and hospital admissions among older adult members of KP Northwest. Project lead: David Mosen, PhD, MPH.
Social risks and racial differences in chronic illness outcomes
This SONNET project took a deep 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. Project leads: Jennifer Gander, PhD, and Suma Vupputuri, PhD, MPH.
Social risks and health care utilization
This SONNET project also took a deep dive into data from KP's 2020 National Social Health Survey, finding 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. Project lead: Morgan Clennin, PhD, MPH.
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.