Alicia Cohen
· Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy and Practice, Assistant Professor of Family MedicineBrown University · Health Services, Policy and Management
Active 1988–2026
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About
Alicia Cohen, MD, MSc, FAAFP, is an Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University and an Assistant Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice at the Brown University School of Public Health. Her research focuses on understanding and improving processes at the patient, community, health system, and structural levels to address adverse social determinants of health and promote health equity across the lifespan. She has extensively published on social drivers of health, social care integration, food insecurity, and health inequities, with her work being cited in Congressional testimony on Veteran and military hunger. Dr. Cohen co-leads a national VA clinical intervention aimed at screening for and addressing social risks and health-related social needs, known as 'Assessing Circumstances and Offering Resources for Needs' (ACORN), in partnership with the VA Office of Health Equity and the National Social Work Program. She practices primary care at the VA Providence’s Homeless and Women’s Health clinics. Her educational background includes an MD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Family Medicine training at UCSF-Santa Rosa, an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Michigan, and a master's degree in Health and Health Care Research earned during her Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar program. She also completed an Advanced Health Services Research & Development Fellowship at the VA…
Research topics
- Medicine
- Environmental health
- Family medicine
- Nursing
- Gerontology
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
Selected publications
JAMA Network Open · 2020 · 81 citations
Importance: Health care organizations are increasingly incorporating social risk screening into patient care. Studies have reported wide variations in patients' interest in receiving health care-based assistance for identified social risks. However, no study to date has examined the factors associated with patients' interest in receiving assistance, including whether interest in receiving assistance varies based on specific patient demographic characteristics. Targeted research on this topic cou…
American Journal of Health Promotion · 2020 · 74 citations
Senior authorCorrespondingPURPOSE: Food insecurity is a concern on college campuses and is correlated with other basic needs insecurities. We examined the cumulative burden of food, financial, and housing insecurities on college students' health and academic performance. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Large, public Midwestern university. SAMPLE: A total of 793 college students completed an online survey in 2018 (43% response rate). MEASURES: Food, financial, and housing insecurity were measured using validated…
Journal of General Internal Medicine · 2023-05-10 · 43 citations
articleOpen accessBACKGROUND: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system routinely screens Veterans for food insecurity, housing instability, and intimate partner violence, but does not systematically screen for other health-related social needs (HRSNs). OBJECTIVES: To (1) develop a process for systematically identifying and addressing Veterans' HRSNs, (2) determine reported prevalence of HRSNs, and (3) assess the acceptability of HRSN screening among Veterans. DESIGN: "Assessing Circumstances and…
Health Services Research · 2023-09-06 · 8 citations
articleOpen accessOBJECTIVE: To determine whether a 6- or 12-month look-back period affected rates of reported social risks in a social risk survey for use in the Veterans Health Administration and to assess associations of social risks with overall health and mental health. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of respondents randomized to 6- or 12-month look-back period. DATA SOURCES AND STUDY SETTING: Online survey with a convenience sample of Veterans in June and July 2021. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS:…
Food Insecurity Prevalence and Risk Factors at a Large Academic Medical Center in Michigan
JAMA Network Open · 2024-03-26 · 7 citations
articleOpen accessImportance: Health care systems are increasingly adopting methods to screen for and integrate food insecurity and other social risk factors into electronic health records. However, there remain knowledge gaps regarding the cumulative burden of food insecurity in large clinical settings, which patients are most at risk, and the extent to which patients are interested in social assistance through their health care system. Objective: To evaluate the 5-year prevalence and associated risk factors of…
Frequent coauthors
- 88 shared
Elena Byhoff
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
- 70 shared
Matthew M. Davis
Lurie Children's Hospital
- 68 shared
Renuka Tipirneni
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- 64 shared
Mary C. Hamati
University of Colorado Denver
- 64 shared
Julie Tatko
Northwestern University
- 51 shared
Eric W. Fleegler
Boston Children's Hospital
- 49 shared
Ellen Poleshuck
University of Rochester Medical Center
- 49 shared
Colleen T. Fogarty
University of Rochester Medical Center
Education
M.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
M.S., Health and Health Care Research
University of Michigan
B.S., Family Medicine
UCSF-Santa Rosa Family Medicine Residency
Other, Integrative Medicine
University of Michigan
Other, Advanced Health Services Research & Development
VA Ann Arbor Center for Clinical Management Research and VA Providence Center of Innovation in Long Term Services and Supports
Awards & honors
- 2022-2024 James C. Puffer/American Board of Family Medicine…
- 2022-2025 VA Fellow on the National Academies of Sciences, E…
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