Despite treatment advancements and improved survival, approximately 1800 children in the United States will die of cancer annually. Survival may depend on nonclinical factors, such as economic stability, neighborhood and built environment, health and health care, social and community context, and education, otherwise known as social determinants of health (SDoH). Extant literature reviews have linked socioeconomic status (SES) and race to disparate outcomes; however, these are not inclusive of all SDoH.Thus, we conducted a systematic review on associations between SDoH and survival in pediatric cancer patients. Of the 854 identified studies, 25 were included in this review. In addition to SES, poverty and insurance coverage were associated with survival. More studies that include other SDoH, such as social and community factors, utilize prospective designs, and conduct analyses with more precise SDoH measures are needed. K E Y W O R D Sadolescents, cancer health disparities, childhood cancer, pediatrics, social determinants of health, survival INTRODUCTIONIn the United States, approximately 16,000 cases of cancer are diagnosed in individuals ages 0-19 years, and an estimated 1800 children and adolescents will die of cancer each year. 1,2 Malignant neoplasms are the third leading cause of deaths among children and adolescents

Avoidable hospitalizations among nursing home residents result in poorer health outcomes and excess costs. Consequently, efforts to reduce avoidable hospitalizations have been a priority over the recent decade. However, many potential interventions are time-intensive, require dedicated clinical staff, and nursing homes are chronically understaffed. The Optimizing Patient Transfers, Impacting Medical Quality, and Improving Symptoms: Transforming Institutional Care (OPTIMISTIC) project was one of seven sites selected by CMS as "enhanced care & coordination providers" and was implemented from 2012 to 2020. A virtual program based on the principles of OPTIMISTIC was developed in the spring of 2020 with the goal of expanding the reach of the program’s services. This qualitative study explores the perceptions and experiences of the nurses that piloted a virtual care support project in 11 nursing homes in a midwestern state, and identified the nurses’ perceived facilitators of, and barriers to, the effectiveness of delivering a novel virtual care support program. A key finding from this analysis is that relationships, communication, and access to information were identified as common themes facilitating or impeding the perceived effectiveness of implementation of virtual care support programs within nursing homes, from the perspective of the nurses delivering the services. The experiences and recommendations of the program nurses provide insights into crucial elements important to the implementation of similar virtual care support models, and the role of telehealth in bridging healthcare workforce gaps.

Avoidable hospitalizations among nursing home residents result in poorer health outcomes and excess costs. Consequently, efforts to reduce avoidable hospitalizations have been a priority over the recent decade. However, many potential interventions are time-intensive and require dedicated clinical staff, although nursing homes are chronically understaffed. The OPTIMISTIC project was one of seven programs selected by CMS as “enhanced care & coordination providers” and was implemented from 2012 to 2020. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of the nurses that piloted a virtual care support project developed to expand the program’s reach through telehealth, and specifically considered how nurses perceived the effectiveness of this program. Relationships, communication, and access to information were identified as common themes facilitating or impeding the perceived effectiveness of the implementation of virtual care support programs within nursing homes.

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