Google Docs template for summarizing your health history
Below is information about a FREE template for summarizing your health history in Google Docs.
We now offer software to help you create and share your health history timeline, just through chatting or speaking.
Or read on for information about the Google Docs template.
As I’ve been working with patients who have chronic - and often mysterious - health issues, I’ve learned a lot about how people tell their stories and what they want to communicate with their health team. One thing that has been helpful is having people gather their health story basics in this Google Docs template.
This document prompts you to reflect on your priorities and goals, add basic info about how you’re feeling and what you’ve tried, and write down some questions and theories so that you can make better use of your next doctor visit.
I prefer a co-editing tool like Google Docs because it allows me to collaborate on the document with people in real time, and they can in turn opt to share it with other family members or caregivers.
It’s nothing too fancy, but it can help you start to get your thoughts together, determine your priorities, and start to see things in one place. Health records and patient portals just don’t capture or easily display many of the key things you may want to express (or that doctors want to know) — like detailed info about your symptoms, alternative treatments that are helping, what’s been ruled out, etc.
The ultimate goal of this document is to help you understand your health history and communicate better with your doctors — to build consensus on what’s happened in the past so you can agree on how to move forward.