SONNET is a national network of applied researchers who help design, evaluate, and implement effective social health interventions to improve member health across Kaiser Permanente. SONNET's work is made possible with funding from KP's National Community Health Program.
New SONNET study looks at patients' unmet social risks and their desire for assistance.
KP researchers conduct the largest known study on loneliness – assessing data from 24,000 KP members – to better understand the impact of loneliness on health, factors that contribute to loneliness, and what can help stop loneliness.
SONNET's new directors Katie Coleman and Cara Lewis share their vision for bridging research and operations to advance social health at KP and beyond.
By: Consuelo Marin Norris, MA, and Cara C. Lewis, PhD
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, SONNET Director and Senior Researcher at Institute for Health Research
By: Sumita Bhatia, MPH, MS, Care Management Institute (CMI)
By: Douglas W. Roblin, PhD, Mid-Atlantic Permanente Research Institute and Kristina H. Lewis , MD MPH SM, Wake Forest School of Medicine
By: Adam L. Sharp, MD, MSc, Southern California Permanente Medical Group,, Alyssa Tjajadi-Millan, MPH, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and Tadashi T. Funahashi , MD, Kaiser Permanente Southern California
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Colorado and Claudia L. Nau, PhD, Research Scientist I, Southern California Permanente Medical Group
By: Courtnee Hamity, PhD, Principal Consultant, Center for Evaluation & Analytics and Ana Jackson, PhD, Director of Evaluation
By: Reesa Laws - Coordinating Center Manager / Technical Research Program Manager
By: Jayme Magallanes, MPH - Senior Project Manager of National Medicaid and Charitable Health Care
By: Loel S. Solomon, PhD, Vice President of Kaiser Permanente Community Health
By: Sarita Mohanty, MD, MPH, MBA and Sarah Threlfall, MPH
By: Matthew Banegas, PhD, MPH and Nicole L. Friedman, MS
By: John F. Steiner, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator, Kaiser Permanente Colorado
By: Rachel Gold, PhD, MPH
By: Adam Sharp, MD, MS
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.
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.
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