MY STORY Form: Age-Friendly Health Systems Approach
The Assisted Living Program of the Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities has released a MY STORY© form designed to inform health care professionals and caregivers about an individual's personal likes and dislikes so that they can provide care that is tailored to a person's specific needs.
MY STORY© collects information in a simple format that can be sent with a person in the case of a hospital or rehab visit. Whether an individual lives in an assisted living facility, nursing home, with a family caregiver, or in their own home, this form can follow a person to their doctor’s appointments, hospital visits, and rehabilitation stays. Questions include such things as what’s most important to me/makes me happy, how do you get around, and what you need help with; and the aim is for an individual to received high-quality, person-centered care from their health care professionals and caregivers.
The development of the MY STORY© tool is described in a blog post, "Building Age-Friendly Health Systems," about the care a patient received at Anne Arundel Medical Center that was tailored specifically to his needs. The blog notes, "This unique experience is all due to AAMC’s Age-Friendly Health Systems (AFHS) initiative." The patient was the father of Susan Shelton, Program Director for the Assisted Living Program at the Anne Arundel County Department of Aging and Disabilities, who recognized the value of this approach and worked with her team to develop the MY STORY© tool.
To learn more, click here.
To read the blog, Building Age-Friendly Health Systems, click here.
