Assessing Social Needs and Engaging Community Health Workers in Underserved Kansas Counties: Insights From Primary Care Providers and Clinic Managers.

INTRODUCTION: Rural and under-resourced urban communities face unique challenges in addressing patients' social determinants of health needs (SDoH). Community health workers (CHWs) can support patients experiencing social needs, yet little is known about how rural and under-resourced primary care clinics are screening for SDoH or utilizing CHWs. METHODS: Interviews were conducted with primary care clinic providers and managers across a geographically large and predominately rural state to assess screening practices for SDoH and related community resources, and perspectives on using CHWs to address SDoH. Interviews were conducted by phone, recorded, and transcribed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. We completed interviews with 27 respondents (12 providers and 15 clinic managers) at 26 clinics. RESULTS: Twelve (46.1%) clinics had a standardized process for capturing SDoH, but this was primarily limited to Medicare wellness visits. Staffing and time were identified as barriers to proper SDoH screening. Lack of transportation and affordable medication were the most cited SDoH. While respondents were all aware of CHWs, only 8 (30.8%) included a CHW on their care team. Perceived barriers to engaging CHWs included cost, space, and availability of qualified CHWs. Perceived benefits of engaging CHWs in their practice were: assisting patients with navigating resources and programs, relieving clinical staff of non-medical tasks, and bridging language barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Rural and under-resourced primary care clinics need help in identifying and addressing SDoH. CHWs could play an important part in addressing social needs and promoting preventive care if financial constraints could be addressed and local CHWs could be trained.

Parosteal Osteosarcoma with Pancreatic Metastasis and Multiple Relapses: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone cancer in all age groups. Metastasis mostly occurs with high-grade tumors disseminating to the lungs and other bones. Spread to the pancreas is rare and undocumented in the low-grade subtypes. Additionally, it is uncommon for the disease course of low-grade subtypes to involve multiple relapses. We present a 35-year-old woman with parosteal osteosarcoma who has experienced an atypical metastasis to the pancreas as well as multiple local and pulmonary relapses. The lesion was identified incidentally on routine imaging, and the patient underwent resection. We compare our case to the other reports of pancreatic metastasis in the literature. Despite being especially rare, clinicians ought to be aware of pancreatic metastasis of osteosarcoma. Furthermore, despite parosteal osteosarcoma's less aggressive disease course, it can uncommonly lead to multiple relapses. We present a rare case exemplifying these phenomena in the prognostically favorable histologic subtype of parosteal osteosarcoma.