Mentored Activity: Patients’ Emotional Wellness

According to the ACLM guidelines, “All patients should be screened initially and periodically for signs of unhealthy stress responses and stress-related conditions such as depression.” In this mentoring activity, you will check on the patient emotional wellness and work together on any issues you may discover.

  1. Invite your project patient for a medical visit.
  2. Ask about his/her emotional wellness (well-being).
  3. Apply the DASS questionnaire.
  4. Assess whether his/her emotional well-being needs to be improved.
  5. Offer components of emotional wellness self-management and ask for his/her thoughts.
  6. Assess ‘Importance’ and ‘Confidence’ - Can he/she incorporate a small stress reduction behavioral change to the Action Plan?
  7. Use motivational interview tools such as Open-ended questions, Affirmations, Reflective listening, etc., to increase the probability of success.
  8. Ask your patient to visit or phone weekly to report on his/her Action Plan, Successes, and Challenges. Adapt as needed.
  9. Write a summary of the visit and ask for your mentor’s reflections on it.