Assessing Unmet Social Needs in Multiple Sclerosis Care in Australia: A Qualitative Assessment of Feasibility, Barriers and Enablers.
Background: Unmet social needs (including housing, transport and social inclusion) contribute substantially to health outcomes, especially for people with long‐term health conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Whether assessment of unmet social needs occurs in MS clinical care is unclear. This...
| Published in: | Health Expectations Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 1 - 14 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Jun2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194811300&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 194811300 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 13696513 EVY jtl: Health Expectations issn: 13696513 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 29 iid: 3 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell place: Malden, Massachusetts artinfo: ui: 194811300 194811300 194811300 10.1111/hex.70691 194811300 ppf: 1 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C – @attributes: type: P tig: atl: Assessing Unmet Social Needs in Multiple Sclerosis Care in Australia: A Qualitative Assessment of Feasibility, Barriers and Enablers. aug: au: Hawkins, Megan R. Learmonth, Yvonne C. Weld‐Blundell, Isabelle Ayton, Darshini Haartsen, Jodi Kavanagh, Anne Kalincik, Tomas Klaic, Marlena Marck, Claudia H. affil: Disability and Health Unit, Centre for Health Policy, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Victoria,, Australia sug: subj: Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Social Determinants of Health Needs Assessment Health Screening Health Services Accessibility Physician Attitudes Evaluation Patient Attitudes Evaluation Human Male Female Adult Middle Age Australia Physicians Descriptive Research Qualitative Studies Exploratory Research Focus Groups Purposive Sample Snowball Sample Semi-Structured Interview Thematic Analysis Audiorecording Data Analysis Software Descriptive Statistics Clinical Assessment Tools Funding Source Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male Female ab: Background: Unmet social needs (including housing, transport and social inclusion) contribute substantially to health outcomes, especially for people with long‐term health conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Whether assessment of unmet social needs occurs in MS clinical care is unclear. This study aims to (1) understand current practices, (2) identify barriers and enablers to social needs assessments in MS care, and (3) explore the feasibility of social needs screening tools. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study comprised focus groups and interviews with clinicians, carers and people with MS in Australia. We inductively and deductively coded transcripts and used applied thematic analysis to identify themes, using COM‐B (Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, Behaviour) and Feasibility frameworks. Results: We collected data from 19 participants (11 clinicians and 8 lived‐experience participants). Participants reported inconsistent and unstructured social needs assessment in MS care. Barriers aligned with capability (lack of referral pathway knowledge), opportunity (resources) and motivation (belief in abilities, evidence of value and scepticism). Enablers aligned with capability (clinician rapport and self‐advocacy), opportunity (care coordination and self‐paced assessment), and motivation (mutual desire for positive patient outcomes). A social needs screening tool was considered acceptable, conditional on adequate resourcing and/or design to ensure identified needs can be addressed. Conclusion: Findings from this qualitative descriptive study suggest that the current integration of social care in MS healthcare in Australia is inadequate. We identified opportunities to develop and test a screening tool and supporting referral resources to identify and address unmet social needs in MS patients. Better integrated social and healthcare represents a promising avenue for improving comprehensive MS management. Patient or Public Contribution: The author team comprised people living with MS and people working in MS care or MS research. All authors contributed to the design of the study, including the focus group materials, the interpretation of the data during the analysis, and the reporting of the findings through reviewing and editing the manuscript. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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