Collaborative documentation is a clinical documentation approach that originated in the discipline of Social Work. It was developed as a way to engage clients in the process of assessment and treatment planning by providing their own perspectives and articulating their understanding of the work being done.
In September of 2017 Bret Hirsch published the article Collaborative Note Writing in Academic Advising Today in which he proposed applying this approach of documentation to work with college students in advising offices. The identified benefits were to increase the collaboration between student and advisor, and to assist advisors with managing documentation responsibilities.
To this, Ohio State added clearly defined questions and goals that we hoped the new technique would aid us in achieving. Some initial questions and goals were:
- Does adoption of a collaborative documentation style assist staff with time management?
- Does adoption of a collaborative documentation style help students with retention and understanding of information covered in the appointment?
- Does use of a collaborative documentation style help foster a richer relationship between the staff and student to improve the quality of student engagement, depth of conversation, and frequency of follow-up?
- Do students demonstrate greater levels of attainment of Ohio State’s advising-related learning outcomes (especially outcomes 2, 4, 5, 10, and 11)?