Addressing Social Determinants of Health with Rutgers Health Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU)

At the Rutgers Health Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, patients are under the care of physicians who are on the faculty of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a part of Rutgers University, one of the top research institutions in America. Rutgers Health MICU doctors are active in clinical research and in teaching about all aspects of critical care medicine. Each brings life-changing knowledge from the classroom to the exam room.

GoMo Health and Rutgers Health MICU partnered to develop a digital therapeutic program that determines the best workflow to address social determinants of health in the inpatient setting. The program works to screen participants in the MICU and determine their social determinants, connect them with social workers who will connect them to community resources, and follow up with them outside of the hospital setting.

The ICU Concierge program enables “individualized” large scalability by personalizing the social determinants for each program participant and their family.

Goals

Participant will:

• Engage with community resources
• Increase independence
• Decrease visits to ED
• Maintain a connection to treatment/wellness plan
• Maintain connection with community resources
• Use own coping skills to manage self

Care Messages Guide Participants on Social Determinants of Health

The ICU Concierge program delivers Care Messages™ and content through personalized SMS text messages. Once enrolled by a staff member at Rutgers MICU, participants will receive messages related to various social determinants of health, including:

• Child Care Assistance
• Clothing Assistance
• Elderly Care Assistance
• Emotional Support
• Employment Service
• Financial Assistance
• Houses of Worship
• Housing Assistance
• Legal Service
• Social Services
• Support Groups
• Transportation

Additionally, participants may receive messages on the following topics if they relate to the individual’s need:

• Educational Services
• LGBTQ+ Resources
• SUD Services

Support for Participants When they Need It

In addition to sending messages at a regular cadence, program participants have the opportunity to receive support whenever they are in need through participant-initiated keywords and GoMo Chat.

Participant-Initiated Keywords

Using their mobile device, participants can text in the following keywords to receive a message on-demand:

• • HOPE – Message that is hopeful and inspiring.
  • MOOD – “feel” good motivational messaging.
  • SMILE – Message with a joke or quick game.
  • SONG – Message with a motivational song.
  • SUPPORT – Link to local resources.

GoMo Chat

Through GoMo Chat, call specialists from Rutgers MICU can communicate in a two-way secure chat with participants in real-time using an easy-to-use, IM-like interface. This allows call specialists to provide more extensive support when needed.

BehavioralRx

GoMo Health leveraged its proprietary emerging science, BehavioralRx®, to build these programs and determine the engagement strategy, approach, and content delivered.

The following behavioral and cognitive techniques were applied:

• Conditioning Technology / Reinforcing target behavior.
• Influence Technology / Persuasion through shared decision making.
• Nurturing Technology / Guided persuasion.
• Suggestion Technology / Intervening at the right time.
• Tailoring Technology / Persuasion through customization.