An appointment can begin with a question gathered at the kitchen table and end with another question on the drive home. The person attending needs somewhere to prepare, record what changed, and carry the remaining work into the next conversation.
The Family Integrator’s Handbook supplies worksheets for that work. The handbook is bound into the paperback of The Invisible Architecture. A separate free workbook edition contains 101 PDF pages. Readers can print the relevant worksheets and bring them to a visit.
The page references below use the numbers printed at the bottom of the workbook pages. The PDF viewer counts the cover, so the printed page numbered 54 appears as PDF page 55. Use the printed page number when following the workbook’s contents list.
Before the appointment
Open “Appointment and Transition Prep” on printed page 54. The upper part of the page asks about changes since the previous appointment, current concerns, the decision the family wants to make, and what would make the visit successful. The handbook directs the family to answer the prompts together before the visit.
Ask the person receiving care which concern matters most. A family might have questions about transportation while the parent wants to discuss a change in daily life. Put those concerns into the worksheet so the person attending can carry the questions into the room.
The prompt about a successful visit gives preparation a concrete purpose. For example, a family could want an explanation of a referral or an answer about where to seek help with transportation. Write the desired answer in the space provided. Bring the completed page to the appointment.
The appointment preparation page keeps the before-and-after prompts together.
Questions for the provider
Printed page 53, “Five Questions for Any Provider,” gives the family space to record the provider and date. Its prompts ask what the provider needs from the family, where problems commonly arise, how the family would learn about a problem, what families should ask, and who provides backup.
Use the prompts that fit the conversation. A question about backup can identify whom to contact when the usual person is unavailable. The answer belongs beside the provider’s name and the date, where the family can find the answer again.
If medication might change during the visit, bring “Medication Reconciliation,” beginning on printed page 28. The worksheet includes fields for medication, purpose, prescriber, start, changes, and questions. Use the questions field to prepare matters for the prescriber to address. Ask the clinician to clarify any instruction the family does not understand before updating the record.
After the appointment
Return to the lower part of printed page 54 while the conversation is fresh. The after-appointment prompts ask what changed, who owns the next step, what remains unresolved, and when follow-up will happen, including who will make sure the follow-up occurs.
Work through the prompts with the person receiving care. Enter the answer the office actually gave. If the family is waiting for information, keep that question in the unresolved space and record the agreed follow-up. If the expected information has not arrived at the agreed time, use that record when contacting the office.
When another person will take over part of the care, printed page 55 continues “Appointment and Transition Prep” with prompts for transitions. Those prompts cover information reaching the receiving person, assumptions about existing arrangements, reachable contacts, notebook materials traveling with the handoff, changes from the previous handoff, and confirmation afterward.
Choose the worksheet for the work ahead. Print the appointment page, complete the preparation prompts with the person receiving care, and bring the page to the visit. After the appointment, fill in what changed, the unresolved question, and the agreed follow-up before putting the page back in the family’s care notebook.