HEADSS assessment
Also written as: HEADSS — Home, Education, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, Suicide
A structured psychosocial screening tool used to evaluate adolescent risk behaviors and mental health.
Full Definition
The HEADSS assessment is a comprehensive psychosocial screening framework that evaluates six key areas of adolescent life: Home environment, Education/Employment, Activities, Drugs, Sexuality, and Suicide/mental health. This tool helps healthcare providers systematically assess risk factors and protective factors in adolescent patients. The assessment guides conversations about sensitive topics in a structured way, ensuring that important psychosocial issues are not overlooked during clinical encounters. HEADSS is particularly valuable in primary care settings and is considered a best practice for adolescent health screening. The tool can identify adolescents who may benefit from additional support, counseling, or referral to specialized services.
Usage
Usage note: Always use all capital letters for the acronym. Some variations exist with additional S's, but HEADSS is the standard.
In Context
- "The clinician completed a HEADSS assessment to screen for psychosocial risk factors." — Clinical documentation
- "HEADSS assessment revealed concerns about substance use and family conflict." — Progress note