DULCE
Addressing social determinants of health to promote health equity for Latina/o families
Investigating the Medical Wellbeing of Latino Families
Latino families and children face pervasive socio-economic challenges such as poverty, un-insurance, and lack of access to social services. These disadvantages can keep families from appropriately supporting their children, leading to early-childhood development gaps that can turn into lifelong disadvantages. However these problems can be partially alleviated by catering to the community’s social needs (food insecutity, transit barriers, mental health services). Programs like the Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone (DULCE) aim to combat early-childhood equity barriers. As these programs become increasingly popular, it’s important to understand their efficacy in improving health outcomes for Latino children and their caregivers.
What is DULCE?
The Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone (DULCE) is a pediatric primary care intervention designed to address social determinants of health for families with infants from birth to 6 months of age. The DULCE team involved a medical provider, behavioral health specialist, early childhood system representative, legal partner, and Family Specialist. The Family Specialist was a paraprofessional community health worker who was well-connected to their local communities and received training in child development, relational practice, and problem-solving. Family Specialists conducted screenings across health-related social needs (maternal depression, food insecurity, housing instability, utilities, and employment and financial supports) and made referrals for social and material needs.
Quantitative & Qualitative Research
We paired quantitative data from the original DULCE intervention with a series of interviews we conducted with Latino/a families to understand how the intervention changed their day-to-day lives and health outcomes.
What We Learned
DULCE encouraged families to seek help
The program helped address immigrant caregivers’ lack of connection to social resources that immigrant families are often hesitant to access on their own.
DULCE helped families respond to health challenges
The intervention was instrumental in helping caregivers withstand different health challenges, particularly by helping people take advantage of important avenues of support.
Informing Future SDOH Interventions
Our study findings can be used to enhance future screening and referral interventions for the growing demographic of Latina/o and immigrant families in pediatric care
