The goal of this clinical trial is to test the impact of a screening and linkage intervention for adverse social determinants of health (aSDoH) on oral health linkage to care for emergency department patients. Researchers will compare three groups: Patients in Arm A will receive paper handouts with general oral health and aSDoH resources. Patients in Arm B will receive paper handouts with geographically-proximate oral health and aSDoH resources. Patients in Arm C will receive geographically-proximate oral health and aSDoH resources plus active navigational assistance.

Inclusion Criteria:

• To be eligible to participate in this study, an individual must meet all of the following criteria:

  • No evidence of lack of capacity to provide verbal informed consent (as documented in the chart).
  • Willing to comply with all study procedures and be available by phone for the duration of the study (as reported by the patient)
  • Unmet oral health needs as ascertained by the Hope Home (adult) or Gazzaz (pediatric) questions
  • Adult (age ≥18 years old) ED patient or pediatric ED patient (>1 year of age) presenting with parent or legal guardian. Parent will be the primary study participant but if age > 7 years, the child will provide assent for medical record review.
  • Ability to communicate in English or Spanish (as reported by the patient)
  • Emergency severity index (ESI) 2-5 (as documented in the electronic medical record)
  • Residence within catchment area of 3-hospital region (defined by MGB home hospital catchment area) at initial enrollment (as reported by the patient)
  • Working phone number

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients on involuntary holds (per electronic medical record review)
• Presenting from carceral facilities (per electronic medical record review)
• Presenting for acute mental health care under evaluation for Section 12 (per electronic medical record review)
• Patients presenting for assistance with intimate partner violence (IPV) or care following sexual assault

Due to the sensitive nature of the database (including information about potential stigmatizing factors including social risk and need), access to scientific data will be controlled and provided under a restricted data contract to users who demonstrate a valid research need and meet conditions of use. Scientific Data derived from humans will be protected through de-identification, removal of information that may be used to infer the identity of individuals and shared under controlled-access conditions as required by institutional policy.

Data will be made available as soon as possible or at the time of associated publication, whichever comes first. The duration of preservation and sharing of the data will be a minimum of 10 years after the funding period.