SOAP Notes – Another Way of Assessing
Every music therapist has their own unique style when it comes to the way they lead sessions, set goals, and take data. Something we learned about at this week’s symposium was SOAP Notes – a type of assessment. The acronym “SOAP” stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan. Here is an example of what information goes into a SOAP Note:
Subjective – Information about the client, including diagnosis, history, and any other self-reported information.
Objective – What the clinician observes (something measurable), and can include what interventions were performed.
Assessment – In medical settings, this is where the diagnosis is determined. For music therapy purposes, this can include what interventions were performed, and perhaps how successful the client was in reaching their goals in those interventions.
Plan – What to do next; revision of goals.
This is a very logical way of assessing, as it provides the framework for both subjective and objective data. In addition to a frequency count or duration recording, the music therapist has the opportunity to write comments regarding what worked well and what can be improved in the next session. I hope that this gets you thinking about how you can use this type of assessment in your own practice!
-Nerissa
