Developing a Health Profile

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What is a Health Profile?

A person-centered Health Profile is a document that: 

• Brings together all the information about an individual's health.
• Keeps a person’s helpers (DSPs, family members, friends) up-to-date about the person’s health.

Why is a Health Profile important?

A health profile is important to: 

• Help individuals communicate with supporters about their health.
• Help individuals communicate with doctors about their health. 
• Help supporters monitor an individual's health.  

How do I write a Health Profile?*

You can develop a Profile by:

• Gathering the individual, people who care about individual (family, friends and supporters), and people who know about the individual's health (doctors, nurses, supporters, Regional Center Service Coordinator).
• Asking the individual and the support team person-centered questions. 
• Making the Health Profile WITH the person, not for the person. 
• Writing down the information so it is easy to understand and easy to find. 

Even if you know the person you support well, it is still important to talk with the individual and with the rest of their support team. 

What do you write in the Health Profile?

What is working well with the individual’s health?

• How do they feel on a day-to-day basis?
• What ongoing health problems do they have and how are they being treated?
• What things should the individual keep doing? 

How could the individual’s health be better?

• Diet, exercise, and weight
• Things the individual should stop doing
• Things the individual should start doing
• Things the individual should do more often

What medicine and vitamins does the individual take?

• What medicines or vitamins they take
• How much they should take (dosage)
• What time(s) they should take it
• Why they are taking it (diagnosis)
• Who prescribed the medicine

What do others need to know to help the individual stay healthy?

Ask the individual:

• What should others know about your health?
• How can they help you stay healthy?

Ask the team:

• Are there other things the support team should know?
• How can the support team help the individual stay healthy?

What’s next?

• Use the empty Health Profile on page 5 of this document to write your own! 
• Give a copy to the individual and their support team.
• Most importantly, change the Health Profile when the individual’s health needs change.

 

Make Your Own Health Profile!

You can fill out an empty health profile on page 5 here. Use the example health profile below for ideas. 

Example Health Profile for John: How John Stays Healthy

What is working well with John’s health?

John says – I feel good and I don’t get sick very often My medicine helps the pain in my legs

Others say - John gets plenty of exercise His blood pressure is lower than six months ago He walks to the bus stop every day He stays away from salt and sugar He is happy most of the time

How could John’s health be better?

John says – I could walk someplace for exercise on the weekend I could remember to take my medicine on my own	Others say - He could do more weight bearing exercises He gets very sad on the weekends when he has nothing to do He could take Vitamin D every day He could gain a few pounds

 

Other Things to Look At

If you want to find out more about person-centered thinking, go to: The Learning Community for Person Centered Practices

*People living in Community Care Facilities already have documents like Health Profiles: current physician’s reports, health histories, and Individual Program Plans (IPPs). These documents can be found in an individual’s file.