Social Emergency Medicine and Population Health
The Social Emergency Medicine and Population Health (SEMPH) Interest Group explores how social factors like housing, food, and violence impact emergency care. It offers a forum for exchanging ideas on curriculum development and creating a research agenda to address these social influences in emergency medicine.
SEMPH Goals for 2024-2025 include:
- Serve as a central organizing point for emergency academicians interested in the interplay of the emergency care system and social forces affecting both patients and communities.
- Create a forum to foster high-quality research, education, and advocacy and translate this work into best practices for the application of social determinants of health at the bedside and beyond.
- Disseminate key advances in social EM and population health through development of consensus conferences and didactic sessions, collaboration with additional professional societies, and creation of web-based content.
Introducing the Social Emergency Medicine Integrated Network for Advancing Research (SEMINAR)
The SAEM SEMPH Interest Group is excited to announce the launch of a new research network, focused on health-related social needs in the emergency department. Learn more about SEMINAR here.
SEMPH Journal Club
The SEMPH Journal Club is a monthly event that brings together members to connect, discuss, and share research and initiatives. Members are encouraged to sign up to present newly published work or topics of interest! Check out our Journal Club calendar to sign up as a presenter or register as an attendee.
SEMPH Pulse Articles
SEMPH Interest Group members have authored, co-authored, and sponsored several articles in SAEM Pulse, including the below. Check out SAEM Pulse every other month for more!
- Vahey S, Weisenthal K. A Harm Reduction Approach to Racial Disparities in Overdose Deaths: The Role of Smoking Supplies in Emergency Care. SAEM Pulse. 2025 May.
- Varshney J, Bielinski K, Pfiefer K, et al. Mifepristone in the Emergency Department: Evidence-Based Management of Early Pregnancy Loss. SAEM Pulse. 2025 May.
- Pulvino C, Jarrell K. Identifying Human Trafficking in the ED: Screening and Intervention Strategies. SAEM Pulse. 2025 Mar.
- Moore A, Morgan O. Addressing Housing Instability in the Emergency Department: Why Standardized Screenings Matter. SAEM Pulse. 2024 Nov.
- Moore A, Morgan O, Varshney J, Supino M. Addressing Barriers to Psychiatric Services for the Unhoused: A Case for the Expanded Use of Long-Acting Injectables. SAEM Pulse. 2024 Sep.
- Strokes N, Westafer L, Soares B, Schoenfeld E. Mitigating the Harms of Opioid Misuse and Withdrawal by Expanding the EM Toolkit to Include Methadone and Harm Reduction. SAEM Pulse. 2024 Mar.
SEMPH Literature
Check out our comprehensive literature list, which compiles several resources across a wide variety of topics pertaining to social emergency medicine and population health, including alcohol use, firearm violence, housing and homelessness, immigration and documentation status, language and cultural barriers, mental health, and more.
Forms
Join Our Interest Group Today!
SAEM members wanting to explore social EM and population health are encouraged to join our interest group! Log into SAEM.org, click "My Participation" in the upper navigation bar, and click the "Update Academies or Interest Groups" button to join now.