Custom GPT: Build Your Facility's Activities Documentation Assistant

What This Builds

You'll build a Custom GPT: a personalized AI assistant that knows your facility name, documentation format, resident population, care plan language standards, and newsletter tone. Every time you use it, you skip the context-setting. You just say "write a progress note for Helen" and it already knows what your facility's progress notes look like, what care plan language is expected, and what a typical resident profile is. Output goes from "needs editing" to "ready to paste," cutting your documentation time in half.

Prerequisites

• ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription ($20/month or $200/year)
• Comfortable using ChatGPT for basic writing tasks (Level 3)
• Your facility's actual progress note templates saved as Word or PDF documents
• Your state's activity documentation requirements (one page of text is fine)
• 1.5-2 hours for initial build and testing

The Concept

A Custom GPT is like hiring a documentation assistant who never forgets anything you've told them. You set it up once with all your facility's standards, templates, and preferences. After that, every conversation starts from shared understanding. No more re-explaining what care plan language you use or what your newsletter should sound like. Think of it as a colleague who has already read your entire policy manual, knows all your residents' general profile, and is available 24/7.

Build It Step by Step

Part 1: Gather your training materials

Before you open ChatGPT, collect these documents:

1. Progress note template: your facility's actual format (narrative, SOAP, or structured)
2. Care plan template: the activities section specifically
3. Newsletter example: last month's newsletter as a reference for tone
4. Resident population summary: a 1-paragraph description of your typical residents
5. State requirements: the key activity documentation requirements from your state regulations (1-2 paragraphs)
6. Vocabulary list: clinical terms your facility uses that you want the GPT to use consistently

If these documents don't exist yet, write a brief version of each. Even rough notes work.

Part 2: Create the Custom GPT

1. Log in to ChatGPT (Plus or Pro required)
2. Click your profile icon (top right) > "My GPTs"
3. Click "Create a GPT"
4. The GPT Builder will open with two panels: left for instructions, right for a preview

Step 2a: Set the name and description

• Name: "Activities Assistant - [Your Facility Name]"
• Description: "Documentation and programming assistant for the Activities Department at [Facility Name]"

Step 2b: Write the system instructions

Click "Configure" tab. In the "Instructions" box, paste this template and fill in all the brackets:

You are a specialized AI assistant for the Activities Department at [Facility Name], a [number]-resident assisted living community in [City, State].

YOUR ROLE:
You help the Activities Director with documentation, programming, and communication tasks. You produce output that is ready to use with minimal editing.

DOCUMENTATION STANDARDS:
- Progress notes format: [describe your format — e.g., "Narrative format, 3-5 sentences. No SOAP. Begin with resident name and participation summary."]
- Care plan language: [describe your style — e.g., "Clinical but warm. Use phrases like 'resident demonstrates,' 'evidences,' 'engages with minimal/moderate/maximal cueing'"]
- Newsletter tone: [describe — e.g., "Warm, personal, written as if from a friend. Not corporate. Use first names only."]
- Incident notes: Factual, objective, no editorializing. Include: what happened, who was present, staff response, follow-up.

RESIDENT POPULATION:
[Write 2-3 sentences about your typical residents: age range, cognitive mix, mobility, common interests]

STATE DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS:
[Paste key phrases from your state's activity documentation requirements]

IMPORTANT RULES:
- Never invent specific facts about named residents
- Always use first names only for residents, never last names
- If I give you plain-language input, rewrite it in the appropriate format
- Flag if any request asks for something that seems clinically inappropriate
- When writing newsletters, make them feel genuinely personal, not AI-generated

Step 2c: Upload knowledge files

Click "Add knowledge files." Upload:

• Your progress note template (PDF or Word)
• Your care plan template
• Your sample newsletter
• Your state's activity requirements document

These files become the GPT's permanent reference materials.

Step 2d: Configure capabilities

Under Capabilities, enable:

• Web browsing: OFF (you don't need it and it adds unpredictability)
• Code interpreter: OFF
• Image generation: OFF

Part 3: Test and refine

Click the preview panel (right side) and run these test prompts:

Test 1: Progress note: "Write a quarterly progress note for Margaret, 83, moderate dementia. Attends bingo 3x/week, participates passively in music programs, declined exercise class this quarter due to knee pain. Consistent engagement with minimal changes."

Check: Does it use your facility's format? Is the language appropriate?

Test 2: Care plan: "Write an activities care plan goal for Robert, 78, who participates enthusiastically in trivia and current events but declines all creative arts activities."

Check: Does it sound like your care plans?

Test 3: Newsletter: "Write the opening paragraph of our March newsletter. Highlights: St. Patrick's Day party, visiting choir from St. Joseph's Church, new garden program launching."

Check: Does the tone match your facility's voice?

If any test produces output that doesn't match your standards, go back to the Instructions and add a specific correction. Repeat until all three tests produce output you'd be comfortable submitting.

Part 4: Save and share (optional)

Click "Save" in the top right. Your Custom GPT is now available in your ChatGPT account under "My GPTs."

If you want to share it with another activities staff member at your facility, use the "Share" option to generate a link (they'll need their own ChatGPT account).

Real Example: Documentation Day in Practice

Setup: Custom GPT configured with your facility's progress note format, care plan language, and resident population profile.

Input: You open the Custom GPT and type: "Write progress notes for these residents: 1. Helen, 80, moderate dementia. Bingo 4x/week, active participant, verbally engages well, no changes. 2. Robert, 77. Trivia and exercise, recently withdrawn since his wife's visit last month, participating but quieter."

Output: Two complete progress notes, formatted to your facility's standards, with appropriate clinical language for each resident's different situation.

Time saved: Each note would have taken 10-15 minutes to write. Both came back in 30 seconds and needed 2 minutes of review. For a director writing 20 notes per quarter for 60 residents, that's 8-10 hours returned.

What to Do When It Breaks

• Output sounds too generic → Go back to Instructions and add more specific examples of good output
• Wrong documentation format → Upload a better example file or paste the exact format into Instructions
• Language feels AI-generated in newsletters → Add to Instructions: "Write newsletters as if from a real person who is passionate about their work. Vary sentence structure. Use specific details."
• Knowledge files not being referenced → Re-upload the file and test again; sometimes files need to be re-attached after edits

Variations

• Simpler version: Skip the Custom GPT and use Claude Projects instead (same concept, slightly simpler to configure; doesn't require ChatGPT Plus)
• Extended version: Add your facility's activity policy manual as a knowledge file; the GPT can then answer policy questions as well as documentation questions

What to Do Next

• This week: Run all your current documentation through the Custom GPT; compare output quality to what you'd have written
• This month: Refine the Instructions based on what needs adjusting; add better example files
• Advanced: Share the GPT link with your Executive Director so they can also use it for activity-related communications

Advanced guide for Activities Director professionals. Requires ChatGPT Plus or Pro subscription ($20/month).