The framework
The GROW Formula® non-clinical capability framework
A structured account of what a qualified health or wellness practitioner needs to be able to do outside the treatment room in order to practise safely, sustainably and professionally.
What the framework is
- A named, ordered set of non-clinical competencies for solo and small-practice professionals.
- A common vocabulary institutions can use to describe capability gaps in graduates and members.
- A basis for the GROW programmes delivered by Licensed Providers and offered through GROW Partners.
- A framework constructed from published research across healthcare, self-employment and occupational psychology.
What it is not
- It is not a clinical framework and makes no claims about clinical competence or patient outcomes.
- It is not a regulatory standard. GROW is not a statutory regulator and confers no right to practise.
- It is not a substitute for professional indemnity insurance or professional body membership.
- It is not a validated psychometric instrument.
Structure
Four domains
Get Clients
Trust, visibility and a frictionless route to becoming a client.
How practitioners become findable, understandable and easy to choose, positioning, local visibility, and removing friction from the enquiry-to-first-appointment journey.
Relationships
Referral networks, client experience and professional boundaries.
The relational work of practice: setting expectations, holding boundaries, communicating clearly, and building the referral relationships that sustain a caseload.
Ourselves
Workload, self-regulation and personal resilience.
Emotional labour, workload fragmentation and professional isolation, the self-management capabilities that keep a solo practitioner working safely and sustainably.
Wealth
Financial confidence, sound decisions and operational stability.
Pricing, record-keeping, tax obligations and financial decision-making under uncertainty, the operational base a practice needs to remain viable.
Terminology
The terms we use
- The GROW Formula®
- The framework itself: four domains of non-clinical capability, the competencies within them, and the rationale connecting them to safe practice.
- GROW programmes
- The taught provision through which practitioners develop those competencies. Programmes are one way to meet the framework; they are not the framework.
- GROW certification
- Confirmation that an individual has completed assessment against defined competencies. It is a CPD certification. It is not a licence to practise and does not certify clinical competence.
- GROW Partnership
- A relationship in which an organisation makes GROW available to its members or community, usually with sponsored or discounted access.
- Licensed Provider
- An organisation authorised to deliver GROW programmes to its own learners under GROW's quality assurance requirements.