A practice worksheet

What would change if your practice saw the whole person?

This review is for a care team looking at one person’s needs. It takes about thirty minutes.

Pick one part of care your team wants to make better. Use these questions to look past the visit. See who needs to be involved. Agree on one change to try.

You can use the worksheet right here. Use a made-up example, or talk about how your own practice works. Keep real patient details in your practice’s own records.

The blanks on this page are for reading. Write your answers on paper or in your own file.

1. Start with what matters to the person

What matters most

Feelings

Feelings

People and
belonging

Home, work,
and self

Meaning and
values

Body and
daily life

What is the person trying to do, get back to, protect, or make sense of? It might be comfort, independence, a relationship, work, family, or a sense of purpose.

In a made-up example, a person might say, “I want enough energy to eat dinner with my family.” That gives the team something real to work toward.

Write one sentence: “The person wants to ______.”

2. Look across the whole picture

Use these prompts to catch things you might miss. Let the person decide what they want to talk about.

01

Body and daily life

What pain, sleep trouble, tiredness, movement limits, or side effects need attention?

01

Body and daily life

What pain, sleep trouble, tiredness, movement limits, or side effects need attention?

01

Body and daily life

What pain, sleep trouble, tiredness, movement limits, or side effects need attention?

02

Thoughts and feelings

What feels scary, confusing, or hard to handle?

02

Thoughts and feelings

What feels scary, confusing, or hard to handle?

02

Thoughts and feelings

What feels scary, confusing, or hard to handle?

03

People and belonging

Who gives support? Is being alone, conflict, or caring for someone else part of the picture?

03

People and belonging

Who gives support? Is being alone, conflict, or caring for someone else part of the picture?

03

People and belonging

Who gives support? Is being alone, conflict, or caring for someone else part of the picture?

04

Daily life and surroundings

Can the person get to care, understand the plan, afford it, and fit it into their day?

04

Daily life and surroundings

Can the person get to care, understand the plan, afford it, and fit it into their day?

04

Daily life and surroundings

Can the person get to care, understand the plan, afford it, and fit it into their day?

05

What matters most

What gives this person hope, strength, or peace right now? What feels shaky or lost? Is there a faith, a belief, or a community that helps? Does the person want that included in care, and how? Who on our team, or outside it, can listen well to this?

05

What matters most

What gives this person hope, strength, or peace right now? What feels shaky or lost? Is there a faith, a belief, or a community that helps? Does the person want that included in care, and how? Who on our team, or outside it, can listen well to this?

05

What matters most

What gives this person hope, strength, or peace right now? What feels shaky or lost? Is there a faith, a belief, or a community that helps? Does the person want that included in care, and how? Who on our team, or outside it, can listen well to this?

You do not need an answer in every row. Note the question, who might help, and what the person wants next.

When to look again

The whole picture changes. Look again at these moments.

A new
diagnosis

A change
in health

A change
at home

The person
asks

Near the
end of life

Can our team meet this need,
or who do we bring in?

Then ask about each need you find. Can our team meet this need? If not, who do we bring in? How will we ask the person first?

3. Make the handoff clear

Pick one question your team cannot answer alone. Who can take it on? What do they need to know? How will the person know the handoff happened? Who follows up if it does not?

Write it in plain words: “______ will contact ______ about ______, and ______ will check that it happened.”

4. Look at the work behind the care

A real change needs time, people, a place to write things down, and a way to keep going. Ask who will do the work and when. Ask what training or review they need. Ask what the practice can give.

If money is part of the plan, write down what still needs checking. Keep the care goal in view while you work through the practical questions.

5. Choose one change to try

Keep the first change small enough to watch. You might make one referral handoff clearer. You might add one question about daily life. You might agree on who follows up when a connection is missed.

Fill in these lines as a team:

01

The part of care we want to make better:

01

The part of care we want to make better:

02

What we hope will get clearer for the person:

02

What we hope will get clearer for the person:

03

The change we will try:

03

The change we will try:

04

Who needs to review it:

04

Who needs to review it:

05

Who will own the work:

05

Who will own the work:

06

What we will watch or ask about:

06

What we will watch or ask about:

07

When we will look at what happened:

07

When we will look at what happened:

Use the review in a team meeting or classroom

Start with a made-up example. Ask each person what they noticed from their own role. Compare the handoffs, the questions still missing, and the work it would take to follow through.

The goal is a better conversation and one clear task to try. This worksheet is for learning and discussion. Your practice stays in charge of its own care decisions.

Educational only. Not legal, billing, coding, clinical, or compliance advice. Do not submit patient or claim information through public website forms.