Considerations:

Describe what the person is experiencing, not who the person is. Instead of "homeless person," say "person experiencing homelessness.” Instead of “patient is poor,” say “patient is experiencing poverty”.

Use nonjudgmental language when discussing the socioeconomic status of an individual. For example: under-resourced, economically disadvantaged, person experiencing poverty, low-income housing, low-income neighborhood, food insecurity.

Be as specific as possible when describing a person’s socioeconomic status when relevant in educational content. Define specific income brackets/levels when known.

Acknowledge contextual factors when discussing cases. Instead of “patient was noncompliant,” say “patient does not have adequate access to…. This impacts treatment by…”

Cautions:

Avoid judgmental language.

For example: lower-class, poverty-stricken, less fortunate/unfortunate, impoverished, at-risk, welfare reliant, food desert.

Avoid conflating socioeconomic status with race, ethnicity or community. If relevant to the case study, specify race, ethnicity, community and socioeconomic status separately.

For example, don’t assume that financially driven nutritional challenges only affect urban communities and not suburban or rural communities.

Considerations:

Provide context and background regarding socioeconomic status to avoid stereotypes and generalization.

Consider the role of social media as a social factor in the biopsychosocial model.

Cautions:

Do not make assumptions regarding a person’s values, lifestyle or character based on their socioeconomic status.

For example: Do not assume that a person experiencing low socioeconomic status is inherently less intelligent, responsible or rational.

Do not assume that a person experiencing low socioeconomic status is unlikely to comply with medical advice and return for follow-up visits. These assumptions can have a negative impact on clinical determinations, such as not pursuing diagnostic testing or providing specialty referrals.

Do not use terms such as “inner city,” “the projects,” or “ghetto” in general. And avoid using these terms as coded language to describe an individual or group of people (e.g., inner-city kid)