Partnerships between anchor-med institutions and community organizations to address social determinants of health in urban populations: Do institutional pressures play a role?

ABSTRACT

Social determinants of health (SDOH), the external environmental factors that determine health and well-being, often play a key role in health disparities and health inequities, and are outside the control of individuals. In urban and rural settings, hospitals have a critical role to play in addressing these SDOH; however, they cannot do so as a lone entity. Hospitals may function as anchor institution and form multi-sector partnerships with other community organizations (educational institutions, organizations addressing food insecurity, public health agencies, other healthcare provider organizations, etc.) to address these complex SDOH. However, as anchor institutions, urban hospitals may also face strong institutional pressures from their stakeholders and society at large. Based on institutional theory and resource dependency theory framework, we examine 1,191 urban hospitals in the United States reporting partnerships with community organizations to address SDOH. Our findings indicate that while addressing SDOH may be a driver, partnerships between hospitals and community organizations may also be in response to institutional pressures.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban health inequities
• anchor-med institutions
• social determinants of health
• community partnerships
• institutional pressure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Neeraj Puro

Neeraj Puro is an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University in the Health Administration program. His research focuses on hospital financial performance, overlapping professions in healthcare and quality of care. He has published in the Sociology of Health and Illness, Journal of Rural Health, SSM-Population Health, PLoS One, and other journals.

Reena Joseph Kelly

Reena Joseph Kelly is an assistant professor in the Healthcare Administration and Policy Department at University of New Haven. Her research interests include addiction medicine, leadership styles, and organizational theory. She has published in the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research, SSM-Population Health, PLoS One, and other journals.