Why Your Care Team Uses Assessment Tools to Learn How You’re Feeling
If you or someone you care for is living with a serious illness, like cancer or kidney disease, you may wonder why your doctor asks lots of questions through assessment tools “tools” (forms, text prompts, etc.) to learn how you’re feeling. These tools help your care team understand how you’re doing physically, emotionally, and in everyday life. They’re used to guide conversations during your visit.
But when you’re already managing symptoms, treatments, appointments, and your daily responsibilities, these tools can sometimes feel overwhelming. This can be especially true if you’re a caregiver who is completing them for someone else, such as a person living with dementia. If this feels familiar, you’re not alone. This blog explains how assessment tools are meant to help—and what you can do if they start to feel like too much.
Why Assessment Tools Are Used
Assessment tools help your care team better understand what you’re going through and how things may change over time. They can help your medical team:
- Notice any symptoms that may not come up in conversation
- Understand stress, worry, or emotional strain
- Learn how your illness affects your daily life
- Make sure any important concerns aren’t missed
- Check for changes to your serious illness over time
This information helps guide your appointment so your care team can focus on what support may help you most. The goal is to understand how you are feeling and monitor the progression of the illness; not to give you more work.
You Can Ask for Help
You are an important partner in your care. It’s always okay to speak up if a tool feels confusing or overwhelming. If you start to feel this way, some things to consider saying include:
- “This feels like a lot today. Is there another way to do this?”
- “Can someone help walk me through this?”
- “Can I fill this out privately or outside of this visit?”
Your care team wants assessment tools to work for you.
Assessment Tools Support Both Patients and Caregivers
Caregivers are often asked to help with assessment tools or complete them on their own. This can be helpful, but it should always feel respectful and comfortable.
Your care team may ask whether you’d like to complete these tools together or separately. There’s no right or wrong choice. What matters most is that everyone feels safe sharing honestly (and that information shared will be kept private).
Turning Tools into Conversations
Assessment tools are meant to guide conversation, not replace it. Depending on the visit, your care team may:
- Review tools with you instead of having you fill them out alone
- Explain why a tool is being used before you start
- Pause if strong emotions come up and talk through them with you
At the end of the day, your care team is focused on what matters most to you. When used this way, assessment tools help build understanding and trust.
It’s Okay to Slow Down
There may be times when filling out these tools feel like too much, and that’s okay. On those days, just let your care team know that you don’t have the energy to do them, or just want to briefly fill them out. Other days, you may have the energy to go into more detail. Your care team will work to meet you where you are.
A Final Thought
Assessment tools play an important role in helping your care team make thoughtful clinical decisions about your care. If you ever feel overwhelmed or just not right, it’s okay to ask for support or clarity.
You deserve care that feels supportive, respectful, and centered on what matters most to you. And that’s where palliative care comes in.
What is Palliative Care?
Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with a serious illness. This type of care is focused on relief from the symptoms and stress of a serious illness. The goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a specially trained team of doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other specialists who work together with your other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage in a serious illness and can be provided alongside curative treatments.
About GetPalliativeCare.org
GetPalliativeCare.org is an online resource for patients and families that focuses on providing information on palliative care (and other ways to support people living with serious illness) from the point of diagnosis. At GetPalliativeCare.org, you can take a short quiz to see whether the person you are caring for could benefit from palliative care and find a nearby provider. The site is provided by the Center to Advance Palliative Care.
Learn more about palliative care and how it can help you.
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