Primary care physicians’ perceptions of social determinants of health recommendations: qualitative research

Background Several organizations have called for primary care professionals to address social determinants of health (SDoH) in clinical settings. For primary care physicians to fulfill their community health responsibilities, the implications of the SDoH recommendations need to be clarified.

Aim To describe primary care physicians’ views about being asked to address SDoH in clinical settings, from both positive and negative perspectives.

Design & setting A qualitative study in Japan. Twenty-one physicians were purposively recruited.

Method Love and breakup letter methodology was used to collect qualitative data that contained both positive and negative feelings. Participants wrote love and breakup letters about being asked to address SDoH in a clinical setting, then undertook an in-depth online interview. Data were analyzed via thematic analysis using the framework approach.

Results The following themes were identified: (i) primary care physicians take pride in being expected to address SDoH; (ii) primary care physicians rely on the recommendations as a partner, even in difficult situations; (iii) primary care physicians consider the recommendations to be bothersome, with unreasonable demands and challenges, especially when supportive surroundings are lacking; (iv) primary care physicians reconstruct the recommendations on the basis of their experience.

Conclusion Primary care physicians felt sympathy and antipathy toward recommendations asking them to address SDoH in their clinical practice. The recommendations were not followed literally, and contributed to physicians’ clinical mindlines. Professional organisations that plan to develop and publish recommendations about SDoH should consider how their recommendations might be perceived by their targets.