Dallas Morning News Editorial: Health improves when basic needs are met

It seems obvious to say that people do better in life when they have better access to health care and other services. But developing the data of just how much impact this can have is critical to understanding where and how to make public investments in providing health care.

For Parkland Hospital and other health care providers, some of that data is coming now, and it’s dramatic. For Parkland Hospital and other health care providers, some of that data is coming now, and it’s dramatic.

A recently released scientific study from the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation was just published in The New England Journal of Medicine. It demonstrates that emergency room visits can be steeply reduced when high-risk populations have other needs met, like food, housing, utilities and transportation.

The results of this study boil down to this: If people are able to resolve their immediate economic needs — with the right personnel at the right time — they are healthier. That can lead to greater cost efficiencies for society at large.

READ the full story HERE.

Download the PDF here: Health improves when basic needs are met