Ecomap Maker with Hartman Lines

What is an ecomap?

An ecomap (also written eco-map) is a diagram of a person or household and the systems around them. The household goes in a large circle in the middle. Work, school, health care, extended family, friends, faith, housing and other systems each get a circle of their own, and a line between the center and each circle shows what that connection is like. Social workers, nurses and family medicine teachers use it to see, on one page, where a person gets support, where it is thin and where it causes stress.

The generator above draws the ecomap as you type. Add systems, choose the line and the arrow for each one, write a short note, and export the result. The legend is part of the image.

Ecomap symbols and what they mean

The conventions below follow Ann Hartman's article Diagrammatic Assessment of Family Relationships (Social Casework, October 1978), which introduced the ecomap. The quoted phrases are from that article.

Reference: Hartman, A. (1978). Diagrammatic assessment of family relationships. Social Casework, 59(8), 465-476. Hartman dates the design of the eco-map to 1975; the article is the 1978 publication.

How to make an ecomap

1. 1

   Name the center

   Type the person or household in the center circle. Add household members, one per line, with the details the assessment needs, such as age and role. Use first names, initials or a code, never a full real identity.

2. 2

   List the systems around it

   Add one row per outside system: work, school, health care, extended family, friends, faith community, housing, income support, recreation and any other part of the life space. Rows can be moved up and down, and the diagram redraws as you type.

3. 3

   Choose the line

   For each system pick Strong, Tenuous or Stressful. Strong is a thick solid line, tenuous is a dotted line, and stressful is a thin line crossed by short marks.

4. 4

   Add an arrow if energy or resources flow

   Pick into the household, out to the system, or both ways. Leave it on No arrow when you only want to show that a connection exists.

5. 5

   Write a short note

   A few words next to the system, for example "weekly childcare" or "waiting list", say more than the line style can. The note is printed outside the circle so it never covers a line.

6. 6

   Export

   Download SVG or PNG for a case file or a slide, or the CSV to keep the systems as an editable table. Paste or upload the CSV later to carry on editing.

Ecomap vs genogram

The two diagrams answer different questions and are often used side by side. A genogrammaps the family itself: who its members are, how they are related and what patterns run across generations. An ecomap leaves the family structure inside the center circle and maps what lies outside it. Hartman's 1978 article describes both.

A common sequence is to draw the genogram first to understand the family, then the ecomap to see what supports and stresses it. For nursing students the same case can then feed a nursing concept map, and for a general picture of how ideas connect there is a concept map generator.

Example: an older adult living alone

The second example shows a fictional older adult with seven systems. The tie to his daughter is strong and runs both ways, and primary care and the faith community are strong and flow toward him. The community center is a tenuous tie since a fall, the old colleagues are a thin tie with no flow, and the home care agency and the pension office are stressful. Read at a glance, the picture says that the support exists but is unevenly delivered, which is the kind of question to take into the next conversation with the person.

Common ecomap mistakes

• Drawing the family but not the services. An ecomap that shows only relatives is a partial genogram; the point is the outside systems and how they relate to the household.
• Using the line style for everything. A dotted line says the tie is thin, not that it is bad. If the relationship is harmful, use the stressful line, and say why in the note.
• Leaving out the absence. A system that should be present and is not, such as no regular doctor, is information. Add it with a tenuous line and a note.
• Putting everything on one level of detail. Group small contacts, such as "neighbors", and keep separate circles for the systems that matter for the assessment.
• Treating the picture as the assessment. The ecomap organizes what the person and worker know at one point in time. It is a starting point for questions, not a conclusion.
• Using real identifying details in a file that will be shared. Remove names, addresses, dates of birth and anything that could identify the person before the diagram leaves the case file.

Privacy and responsible use

Ecomaps often describe people in difficult circumstances. Use fictional or de-identified details, follow your agency or school policy on records, and treat the diagram as a prompt for conversation with the person, not a verdict about them. The generator draws what you type, runs in your browser and does not check, interpret or diagnose anything.