Capturing and embedding social determinants of health in maternity care

Social determinants of health are major drivers of poor pregnancy outcomes, yet they are rarely captured or used systematically to guide maternity care. While health systems now have greater capacity to collect data, there has been little focus on identifying which social determinants matter most and how to embed them into models of care. This project will map current approaches to capturing social determinants of health in pregnancy and beyond, drawing on a community advisory panel and network established under the National Maternity Learning Health System. The candidate will conduct an evidence synthesis of what social determinants have been captured, how, and how they have been used to guide care internationally. Building on this, the project will explore how these determinants could be captured within Monash Health and existing funded research programs, working toward a strategy to implement this data collection and use it to guide models of care. There is scope for the candidate to shape the research design, drawing on systematic review, epidemiological, and/or qualitative methods, under the supervision of an experienced research team.