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COPE_PC Tool

To be used in the actual encounter between you and your patient


Reminder to you and your patient: After this encounter, two Western University Research team members will meet with you and your patient separately to have you complete a short questionnaire and to conduct a short interview, as indicated in the letter of information you received.

You and your patient have agreed to use the COPE_PC website and the COPE_PC Tool in an encounter as part of a research project for which you have both provided consent. Since your patient has already provided consent to be part of this study, you are free to use the COPE_PC website and Tool during this encounter. You may choose to start as you wish but you could say something like, “You and I have agreed to test out this website-based tool today so let me share my screen with you so we can both see the website.”


As you did during the Family Physician Education Module, think about how you and your patient want to use the COPE_PC website. The following bullets provide some ideas on what you and your patient might do but feel free to adapt to what you and your patient decide is best.

  • Consider sharing the COPE_PC website computer screen with your patient:
    • You may wish to show the Infographic and/or the Resources pages.
  • When you click on the COPE_PC Tool:
    • Will you go through all the questions or just some of them? Will you ask your patient which questions they want to answer?
    • Will you share the research evidence that supports asking these questions?
    • You can look for patterns of one colour which might indicate a longer conversation with your patient. Or you may see just a few questions that indicate a risk that you and your patient decide to explore.


COPE_PC Tool Simulation


You will see a short summary of research evidence below each question. When asking these questions of older adults with multimorbidity, we learned that these factors are associated with social isolation.


In general, how is your mental health?

Research indicates those who rate their self-rated mental health as ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’ are less likely to report experiencing social isolation than those who rate their mental health as ‘fair’ or ‘poor’.

To what level do you consider yourself to be spiritual?

Research indicates those who identify as ‘very spiritual’ or ‘moderately spiritual’ are less likely to report experiencing social isolation than those who identify as ‘not spiritual’ or ‘slightly spiritual’.

Resilience #1 – I am able to adapt when changes occur

Research indicates that the more resilient a person is, the less likely to report experiencing social isolation.

Resilience #2 – I tend to bounce back after illness, injury, or other hardships.

Research indicates the more resilient a person is, the less likely to report experiencing social isolation.

How would you describe your sense of belonging to your local community?

Research indicates those who identify as having a ‘very strong’ or “somewhat strong’ sense of community belonging are less likely to report experiencing social isolation than those who identify as ‘somewhat weak’ or ‘very weak’.

How many places such as organizations, activities or clubs do you participate in or visit? Examples: Health care, clubs, community or senior centres, exercise facilities, restaurants, stores, places of worship, parks

Research indicates the more places a person participates in or visits, the less likely they are to report experiencing social isolation.

Do you use any social networking websites (e.g. Facebook) or apps (e.g. Zoom or Face Time) to communicate with friends and family?

Research indicates those who use social networking websites are less likely to report experiencing social isolation than those who do not use social networking websites.