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Create Goal Definitions and Action Plan Templates

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

  • Create goal definitions.
  • Create action plan templates.

Guide Case Workers with Template Goals and Tasks

Every case is different and every participant’s needs vary—but they also have a lot in common.

When you create a care plan template that consists of standard benefits, goals, and tasks, your team and participants have a quick-to-create blueprint for success. You can add or remove the elements that don’t apply to each participant, but care plan templates give you a starting point to save time and effort.

We explore Care Plan Management and its various capabilities with Hunger No More International (HNMI), a nonprofit working to end hunger and promote healthy food options globally. 

In this unit, follow HNMI’s staff as they create goals and action plan templates for a care plan template. For examples and information about how to structure benefits in Nonprofit Cloud, check out Programs and Benefits in Nonprofit Cloud for Programs.

Want to Get Hands-on with Nonprofit Cloud?

In this module, we show you the steps to manage care plans in Nonprofit Cloud. We don’t have any hands-on challenges in this module, but if you want to practice and try out the steps, register for a free Nonprofit Cloud trial with sample data. A Trailhead Playground doesn’t have Nonprofit Cloud. Here’s how to get the free trial edition now.

  1. Sign up for a free 30-day Nonprofit Cloud trial.
  2. Fill out the form completely.
  3. After you fill out the form, click Submit. A confirmation message appears.
  4. When you receive the activation email (this email might take a few minutes to arrive), open it and click Verify Account.
  5. Complete your registration by setting your password and challenge question. Tip: Write down your username, password, and login URL for easy access later.

You’re logged in to your trail org. Add the Action Plan Assignment related list to the Care Plan Template page layout to complete the steps in this module.

  1. Click Setup , then Setup.
  2. Click Object Manager.
  3. Find and select Care Plan Template.
  4. Select Lightning Record Pages.
  5. Select Care Plan Template - Nonprofit Cloud.
  6. Click Edit.
  7. Drag a Related List - Single component onto the page layout below the Care Plan Template Goal related list.
  8. In the component’s settings select Action Plan Template Assignment in the Related List field.
  9. Save your work.
  10. Click Back.
  11. Find and select Case Management from the App Launcher (App Launcher).

Use the Case Management app for the rest of this module.

Define Goals

Care plans include goals to help participants focus on their milestones. Remember that there are two types of goals. 

  • Top goals, which track a participant’s ultimate outcomes.
  • Intermediate goals, which are smaller goals on the way to the top goal.

Luke Richardson is the star program manager at HNMI. Follow along as he creates the goals for a care plan template for participants working to build their meal-planning and healthy cooking skills to increase food security. He’s setting up the template at this organization, but anyone with the proper permissions can create a template.

Luke begins by creating a new top goal and a related intermediate goal.

  1. Find and select Goal Definitions from the App Launcher (App Launcher).
  2. Click New.
  3. Create your first goal—a top goal. Specify these details:
    • Name: Improve healthy cooking skills
    • Status: Active
    • Description: Demonstrate basic skills with meal planning and cooking healthy recipes.
    • Type: Top Goal
  1. Click Save & New.
  2. Create your second goal—an intermediate goal. Specify these details:
    • Name: Learn 5 healthy recipes in intermediate cooking class
    • Status: Active
    • Description: Successfully make 5 of the 8 healthy recipes taught in the intermediate healthy cooking class.
    • Parent Goal: Improve healthy cooking skills
    • Type: Intermediate Goal
  1. Save your work.

The goal definition record you created.

Now there are at least two goals for the new care plan. You likely have many more for your programs, but Luke is ready to move on to the next step.

Create Action Plan Templates

Action plan templates are sets of repeatable tasks in support of a care plan that can be assigned to program participants or staff at your organization.

As with goal definitions, you create these tasks, attach them to a template, and have your case workers assign tasks to participants during the care plan creation process.

Here’s how Luke creates a simple action plan template for HNMI.

  1. Find and select Action Plan Templates from the App Launcher (App Launcher).
  2. Click New.
  3. Specify these details.
    • Name: Meal planning and healthy cooking
    • Action Plan Type: Industries
    • Target Object: Care Plan
  1. Save your work.

The action plan template record showing the Items tab that enables adding a task.

To enable users to create additional tasks, select Let users add items to action plans when you create a template. Luke doesn’t want his users to add tasks, so he leaves this option deselected.

Note

Action plan templates can be used to standardize tasks on other helpful Nonprofit Cloud objects, like Goal Assignment and Benefit Assignment. To use action plan templates on those objects, select them from the Target Object field on an action plan template.

There are no tasks included in the template yet. Luke adds one.

  1. In the Tasks section, click New Task.
  2. Specify these details.
    • Subject: Register for introductory cooking class session
    • Days: 10. This value is the number of days an assigned person has to complete the task from the day the action plan is created.
    • Priority: Normal.
    • Task Assignment: Action Plan Creator. This setting assigns the task to whoever creates the action plan as part of the individual care plan, such as a case manager. You could also assign this task to a specific user or a queue so the next available staff member can pick up the task.
  1. Save your work.

Luke can repeat these steps for as many tasks as he needs. For example, he can set up tasks to enroll participants in HNMI’s intermediate cooking class, complete nutrition counseling sessions, or help participants register for government-provided food benefits. He only adds one task for now.

For an action plan template to be associated with a care plan template, the action plan template must be published. On the Meal planning and healthy cooking record, click Publish Template, and then Publish.

In this unit you defined goals and set up an action plan template with a task. Along with benefits—which exist in the trial org—Luke’s now ready to set up a care plan template. He starts there in the next unit.

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