Social Medicine Officer

The Social Medicine Officer is responsible for integrating social medicine within clinical and community health. The Officer will coordinate and implement integrated social medicine services at facility and hospital levels, ensuring that social determinants of health are systematically identified and addressed.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES

Social Determinants Assessment and Programming

• Conducts systematic social determinants of health (SOH) screening for all patients at Neno District Hospital, Lisungwi Community Hospital, and supported health centers using standardized tools.
• Conducts comprehensive individual and household-level social assessments for patients identified as high-risk or vulnerable (e.g., those with HIV, TB, NCDs, mental health conditions, malnutrition, or obstetric complications).
• Identifies and documents social barriers to care, including food insecurity, transport barriers, housing instability, lack of caregiver support, gender-based violence, disability, and economic vulnerability.
• Liaises with clinical teams during ward rounds, clinical reviews, and OPD consultations to flag patients with significant social risk factors and coordinate timely responses.
• Develops monthly activity work plans.

Integration with Clinical Programs & Health System

• Embeds social medicine within specific clinical programs (HIV/ART, TB, MNACH, NCD, Palliative Care, and Mental Health) by attending program-specific clinical reviews and contributing a social medicine perspective.
• Collaborates with the TB-HIV Program Officer, MNACH Coordinator, NCD team, and other clinical leads to develop and implement socially informed care plans for complex patients.
• Contributes to APZU’s social medicine culture by training and sensitizing clinical and community health staff on social determinants of health and patient-centered social support approaches.
• Supports integration of social support into PHC services by working with Health Centre In-charges and MOH staff to build capacity for SDOH screening at primary care level.

Data Management, Reporting and Quality Improvement

• Maintains accurate APZU Social Medicine patient registers and documentation systems, capturing all social support interventions, outcomes, and referral follow-ups.
• Prepares monthly program reports documenting activities, resources provided, patient outcomes, and key social determinants trends observed in the catchment area.
• Participates in monthly data review meetings to monitor indicators such as retention rates, food support coverage, transport utilization, and referral outcomes.
• Supports quality improvement initiatives contributing to poor clinical outcomes by identifying social barriers and proposing evidence-based programmatic responses.

OTHER STRATEGIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Stakeholder Engagement and Coordination

• Builds and maintains relationships with government social welfare departments (Ministry of Gender, Social Welfare and Women Affairs), District Social Welfare Office, and community-based organizations.
• Participates in district-level social protection coordination forums and working groups to ensure APZU patients benefit from government and partner social protection programs.
• Identifies and reports emerging social protection needs, gaps, and barriers to the Social Medicine Manager to inform program adaptation and advocacy.
• Builds and maintains relationships with local and regional NGO working in the field of poverty alleviation and community resilience.

Resource Planning & Budget Oversight

• Manages social support intervention budgets (transport, food support, patient assistance) responsibly, ensuring expenditures are properly documented and aligned with APZU financial policies.
• tributes to quarterly and annual budget planning by providing data on patie eds, social support volumes, and resource utilizati
• Contributes to proposal development for program funding.