Ecomap
Illustrate the family's relationships with external systems — sources of support, stress and gaps.
Clinical context
An ecomap (ecological map, Hartman 1978) diagrams a family's connections to external systems — school, work, healthcare, social services, community groups and extended family. Solid lines mark strong supportive ties, dashed lines weak connections, zigzag lines stressful ones, with arrows showing the direction of energy and resource flow.
Use it in family medicine to map social determinants of health at a glance: identify sources of support to reinforce, stressors to address, and gaps where referrals or care coordination are needed — particularly for complex patients involved with multiple systems.
Family / household
External systems
- Extended family (personal)
- Church (community)
- Primary care (professional)
- Employer (professional)
Relationships
- Extended family: strong, both
- Church: weak, to
- Primary care: strong, to
- Employer: stress, from
Ecomap
Ecomap
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Interpretation
Extended family, Primary care
Employer
Church (weak connection), School (not listed — consider), Church / faith (not listed — consider), Social services (not listed — consider)