Skip to main content
Headway

Compliance and documentation

How to use the WHO-5 to assess wellbeing

Learn more about the World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index and how you can use it in your practice.

October 11, 2024 • Updated on August 29, 2025

8 min read

Formal assessments can play an important role in helping you understand a client’s experience, so you can properly diagnose them and create an appropriate treatment plan. Assessments can also help you measure a client’s progress over time, allowing you to tweak your clinical approach if necessary. 

The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index, or WHO-5, is one assessment that can assist you in learning more about your clients and what their everyday lives are like. Below, learn more about the WHO-5 assessment, and how you can use it in your practice.

What is WHO-5?

The WHO-5 is one of the most commonly used questionnaires assessing psychological well-being, including assessing symptoms of depression. It was first published in 1998, and it’s since been translated into more than 30 languages. It’s also widely used in research studies. 

It’s a self-administered assessment, which means the client fills it out on their own, marking how they’ve felt in the last two weeks and how frequently they’ve felt that way. Then, a medical provider scores the assessment based on the client’s answers. 

Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to send assessments that line up with each client’s particular concerns and goals. The WHO-5 measures more general feelings on well-being, which makes it a good fit for a wider range of clients, regardless of their primary presenting problem. You may consider issuing the WHO-5 to identify symptoms of depression, or to better understand a person’s overall mood and daily well-being.

WHO-5 assessment

The WHO-5 assessment includes the following questions and prompts clients to mark “at no time,” “some of the time,” “less than half the time,” “more than half the time,” “most of the time,” or “all of the time.”

I have felt cheerful and in good spirits.

I have felt calm and relaxed. 

I have felt active and vigorous.

I woke up feeling fresh and rested. 

My daily life has been filled with things that interest me.

Practice in-network with confidence

Simplify insurance and save time on your entire workflow — from compliance and billing to credentialing and admin.

Talk to a practice consultant

WHO-5 scoring

Each measure on the assessment is measured on a five-point scale and assigned a certain number of points.

All of the time: 5 points

Most of the time: 4 points

More than half the time: 3 points

Less than half the time: 2 points

Some of the time: 1 point

At no time: 0 points

When each answer is assigned a point value, the WHO-5 assessment can range from 0-25. In general, the higher the score, the better quality of life a person has reported experiencing at that time.

Monitoring changes in WHO-5

Like other assessments, the WHO-5 is a time-sensitive tool, which means it captures data from a small window of time. It’s often used as a tool for screening quality of life in new clients, but it’s also useful in re-assessing clients so you can adjust their treatment plan as needed. For example, if you first started seeing a client six months ago, you can re-issue the WHO-5 to determine their current well-being and adjust your treatment plan accordingly.

Headway’s documentation tools can help

Tracking general well-being is essential to understanding your clients’ progress over time. Headway supports this work with AI-powered progress notes and designed-for-compliance templates — all within a secure, streamlined platform. We’re here to simplify your documentation, billing, insurance credentialing, and more.

Talk to a practice consultant

This content is for general informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical, legal, financial, or professional advice. All decisions should be made at the discretion of the individual or organization, in consultation with qualified clinical, legal, or other appropriate professionals.

© 2026 Therapymatch, Inc. dba Headway. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.

Compliance and documentation

How to write progress notes

Progress notes are the core piece of documentation a provider should write after each client session, but it’s more than just a record of what happened.