About HEARTSMAP
The HEARTSMAP tool is designed to support clinicians to conduct an efficient comprehensive psychosocial evaluation for children and youth presenting with mental health concerns.
Providing the clinician with guiding questions, the tool collects information across the following 10 variables:
- Home
- Education and activities
- Alcohol and drugs
- Relationships and bullying
- Thoughts and anxiety
- Safety
- Sexual health
- Mood
- Abuse
- Professionals and resources
The tool subsequently uses the information entered by the clinicians, evaluating severity and acuity of the youth’s needs for each section, to generate a report outlining the recommendations for management (e.g. consult psychiatry, refer to urgent response team, follow-up with primary care provider, etc.) and provides a summary of the scores and clinical notes. This report can be included in the patient’s medical record as a means of documentation.
Originally developed for an emergency department setting in BC, HEARTSMAP is now available to clinicians to use at their discretion in emergency departments outside of BC and in community settings where a psychosocial assessment is warranted. The MyHEARTSMAP self-assessment tool has also been developed for families to use for their own psychosocial needs. The tool recommendations are not intended to serve as a substitute for professional medical advice or the user’s own sound medical and clinical judgment or individualized patient care and the tool user is responsible for using their own professional judgment in evaluating the information provided within the HEARTSMAP assessment tool.
If you have any questions or issues, please send us a message using the Contact Us page.