What is the stratified care approach?

• A. Classify patients in levels of risk for chronicity and adjust Plan of Care based on risk.
• B. Treat all patients with the same plan regardless of risk.
• C. Randomly assign the level of care.
• D. Only consider age when deciding care.

Answer: (A)

Stratified care means using a patient’s level of risk for persistent or chronic problems to guide how intensively and what components are included in their care plan. By assessing risk at the start, clinicians can place patients into low, medium, or high risk and tailor the Plan of Care to match those needs. This approach helps ensure that those at higher risk receive more targeted and potentially multidisciplinary support, while lower-risk patients receive appropriate, often less intensive, management.

In practice, risk assessment looks beyond just symptoms to include functional status, medical history, and psychosocial factors that can affect recovery. For example, someone with high psychosocial risk factors might need additional support or coordination with other professionals, whereas a low-risk patient might do well with education and a home-directed plan with minimal supervision.

Treating everyone the same ignores these differences and can lead to over-treatment for some and under-treatment for others. Randomly assigning care levels has no basis in patient need, and deciding care based only on age misses important factors that influence recovery trajectories.