A whole-person measurement strategy for vulnerable veterans: Revisiting Maslow's hierarchy

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) State of the Art (SOTA) conference on March 29-30, 2023, on the measurement of whole-person outcomes (ie, indices of well-being that capture what matters most to patients rather than what is the matter with them) reflects growing recognition in health care of the value of moving beyond disease-focused models of care. This SOTA, along with other forums on the state of well-being measurement in health care, has reignited critical discussions of what it means to provide “patient-centered” care. Although perspectives are varied and nuanced, there appears to be a consensus that the characteristics of a patient population and the clinical settings in which they are served should factor into decisions about which whole-person outcome measures are most applicable. Accordingly, the conversation is shifting from talking about whole-person measures to whole-person measurement strategies in health care. In this commentary, we argue that for populations deficient in basic needs such as food or shelter, a whole-person measurement strategy must not neglect the assessment of one’s personal growth needs (eg, meaningful social connections).