Our Work
Know the person, not only the diagnosis.
The Who Am I Project partners with long-term care communities to preserve residents’ life stories through thoughtful, guided conversations. These personal narratives honor each person’s experiences, relationships, and values, illuminating the individuality behind every diagnosis.
The visit
What We Do
Every two weeks, members of The Who Am I Project visit partnering care facilities and sit down with residents for a quiet, unhurried conversation — not a clinical intake, but a genuine exchange about the people, places, relationships, and memories that have shaped a life.
Our interviewers listen for the details that don't appear in a medical chart — favourite places, formative relationships, cherished routines — and shape those details into a narrative written entirely in the resident's voice.
Once a draft narrative is complete, the resident and any loved ones they choose are invited to read it together, offer reflections, and confirm it feels true. The finalized story becomes part of the resident's permanent file and medical record — so that everyone who provides care can know the person first.
The Outcome
Impact on Care
A medical chart can describe a condition — it cannot describe a person.
When care providers can read and listen to a resident’s own story—the places that shaped them, the people they love, the values they hold closest—they begin to see the person beyond the diagnosis and respond with more individualized, empathetic care. The Who Am I Project preserves these narratives and places them in the resident’s healthcare record, creating lasting value by ensuring each story can continue to inform and guide care over time.
The "What Matters" Framework
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative uses the "What Matters" framework to align care with each older adult's goals, preferences, and priorities. The Who Am I Project complements this approach by preserving residents' life experiences, relationships, values, and personal preferences in individualized narratives that become part of their healthcare records — helping providers see beyond diagnoses and deliver more empathetic, personalized care.
The Who Am I Project is an independent initiative. We complement the spirit of "What Matters" and do not imply formal affiliation with or endorsement by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
A Few Practical Questions
What is the lasting value of this work?
The Who Am I Project preserves residents' life experiences, relationships, values, and personal preferences in individualized narratives that become part of their permanent files and healthcare records — ensuring those stories continue to inform more personalized, empathetic care over time.
What does an interview actually look like?
An interviewer sits down one-on-one with a resident for a quiet, conversational exchange. There are guiding questions, but no rigid script — the conversation follows the resident's lead, drawing out the people, places, and memories that have shaped their life.
How is a resident's story handled?
The narrative is drafted from the structured, conversational interview, then reviewed by the resident and any loved ones they designate. It is handled in accordance with applicable HIPAA privacy requirements before the finalized narrative becomes part of the resident's permanent file and medical record.
Where does the finished narrative go?
The finalized story becomes part of the resident's permanent file and medical record. It travels with them through the care system so that every provider — not just those who were there from the beginning — can meet the person before they encounter the diagnosis.