Clinics Use Toolkit to Assess Patients’ Physical, Environmental, Lifestyle, Social, Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Experiences With Healthcare Team
The HOPE Note Toolkit is being used in some healthcare systems to improve whole person care. In order to support clinics in the process of adopting the HOPE Note Toolkit in primary care, researchers tested a learning collaborative approach across 17 primary care clinics in the United States, including private practices and family medicine residency training programs. The collaborative used expert and peer supported practice improvement and action research to help clinical teams develop the skills and processes needed to conduct whole person integrative health visits using the toolkit.
The 16 participating clinics represented more than 220 clinicians serving approximately 39,000 patients. Most clinics planned to expand their use of the tools and reported improved knowledge, skills and delivery of whole person care.
What is Known: Providing primary care has transitioned from simply treating a patient’s medical conditions to taking into account the many factors that affect a person’s health, including their physical, environmental, lifestyle, social, emotional and mental health, as well as their spirituality. It is challenging to change practice patterns to address these various aspects of whole person care.
What the Innovation in Primary Care Adds: A learning collaborative approach supported the adoption of the HOPE Note Toolkit for the delivery of whole person care in 16 primary care practices.
Implementing Whole Person Primary Care
Elena Rosenbaum, MD, et al
Department of Family and Community Medicine, Albany Medical College, Albany, New York
Permanent link
The Annals of Family Medicine