UK HealthCare, Public Health partner to provide experiential learning, address patient needs

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 21, 2025) — A partnership between the University of Kentucky’s College of Public Health and UK HealthCare is giving public health students a front-row seat to the real-world challenges Kentuckians face outside of hospital walls. It’s also helping the health care system respond to new federal and state regulations requiring screening for social drivers of health.

The collaboration was sparked by a dual regulatory push: the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Kentucky Medicaid now require health care providers to screen patients for social needs, such as housing, transportation and food insecurity. The state-level mandate that went into effect in January 2024 applies not only to adult hospital patients but also to adults and children in primary care clinics across the state. 

“We quickly realized that if we were screening, we needed to make sure we could provide some assistance with whatever the patient said they needed help with,” said Jessica Sass, executive director of population health at UK HealthCare. 

To develop a system for responding to patients’ social needs, UK HealthCare created a systemwide social drivers of health workgroup that included leaders from across the university. Rachel Hogg-Graham, Dr.P.H., chair of the College of Public Health Department of Health Management and Policy who specializes in public health systems and how hospitals engage with community partners, joined the group to help shape strategy. 

That strategy included preparing for an increase in patient referrals and supporting community-based organizations that might feel the impact. 

At the same time, UK HealthCare’s Population Health Team was trying to estimate how many additional patients would need navigation support — and how they would manage with limited staff. 

Through conversations with the College of Public Health, a plan emerged to engage students, from undergraduate to doctoral levels, to support follow-up efforts for patients who screened positive for unmet social needs — a hands-on learning opportunity for students that also filled a critical care gap for patients.

“We worked closely with the UK HealthCare Population Health Team to design an experiential opportunity for public health students to support the work,” said Hogg-Graham. “We considered how students across programs could participate and what learning opportunities were built into the curriculum.”

Students engaged in a range of roles — some assisted with data analysis, others developed community resource guides and a number went through community health worker training. Several even helped connect patients to services like transportation or food assistance.

“They were engaging with patients, making outreach calls, identifying needs, completing assessments,” said Kylee Causey, social needs coordinator at UK HealthCare. “They were seeing the interaction in real time and working to overcome barriers like transportation or food access.”

For Kangai Miriti, the role began with shadowing community health workers to see how they navigated patient conversations, documented encounters and identified resources that could meet patient needs. 

“One of the most eye-opening aspects of this experience was realizing how unique each patient’s situation is,” said Miriti, who was a Master of Public Health student at the time of experience. “Connecting patients to the right resources takes patience and persistence, but when a successful connection is made, it’s incredibly encouraging.”

After shadowing, Miriti began conducting patient outreach on her own. While food and transportation were among the most common needs she encountered, she quickly learned that no two patient interactions were alike. 

“What worked for one patient didn’t necessarily work for another,” she said. “I had to learn how to listen closely and adapt my approach based on each patient’s needs.” 

Haritomane Brillakis, a Ph.D. student in health services research, volunteered with the Population Health Team for about six months, assisting with social needs outreach, supporting community health workers and evaluating the screening and referral process. 

In early 2025, Brillakis also co-facilitated a qualitative study to better understand how community health workers and community-based organizations coordinate care and provide social support services, as well as the impact social needs screening has on patient care.

“This experience deepened my understanding of how frontline public health work intersects with health care delivery and social needs,” said Brillakis. “I gained valuable insight into both the challenges and strengths of community partnerships and saw firsthand how community health workers serve as vital bridges between healthcare systems and communities, helping connect patients to essential resources.”

For many students, the experience proved truly formative — sometimes shaping their future career paths.

“This experience not only helped shape my research interests, but it also reaffirmed the value of community-centered work and collaborative problem-solving,” said Brillakis. “It was a meaningful part of my doctoral training and has significantly influenced how I approach both research and practice moving forward.”

Miriti added, “It also revealed how widespread social needs are in the community and highlighted the significant need for ongoing efforts to connect patients to the resources they need. Overall, this experience was an eye-opener that showed me what it truly means to meet people where they are.”

Causey said that through this work, students gained valuable firsthand insight into how social needs impact health — not just in theory, but in real life.

For Hogg-Graham, the partnership represents more than just a student learning experience. It’s an example of how academic and clinical institutions can work together to advance health across Kentucky. 

“It gives students a much more holistic understanding of patients and the factors that impact their health and well-being,” she said.

Sass echoed that point.

“There’s a perception that only a certain type of patient or population needs help,” she said. “But when you’re working in population health, you see a broader picture of how these social drivers affect many patients — things that impact their ability to be healthy or stay healthy.”

The collaboration also fits squarely into UK’s broader mission. 

“We are connecting academics to healthcare,” said Sass. “And we’re trying to do research and data analysis through this as well.”

That research is ongoing. Hogg-Graham and her team are continuing to work with UK HealthCare to analyze the social needs data being collected.

“We can use the data to examine how social needs are associated with critical health outcomes,” said Hogg-Graham. “This information becomes a powerful tool in designing strategies to improve health and well-being across communities.”