Cohorts in Lookout

This guide explains what cohorts are, why they matter, and how to create and assign them in Lookout. It covers what you need before starting, where cohorts appear across the platform, and what to do if something isn't working.

Before you start

Before reviewing this article, please ensure you meet these prerequisites:

You are logged into Lookout as a staff member.
To create, rename or archive cohorts, you need the "Configure cohorts globally" permission. This sits within the Workflow Management area of access roles - typically held by Administrators and workflow/template managers.
To assign a Member to a cohort, you need edit access to that Member, which means access to the communities that Member belongs to.
You've agreed internally within your organisation on your cohort naming conventions before creating them (we will provide some tips below).

What is a cohort?

A cohort is a label you attach to a group of Members who share something important in common.

Think of it like a set of coloured stickers you can put on Member records. A Member can carry several stickers at once, and you can add or remove them at any time.

Cohorts are your own categories - you decide what they mean. Common examples used by providers include:

Falls risk
Lives alone
Chronic illness
High risk / complex needs
Recently discharged from hospital
Dementia support
Newly onboarded (first 90 days)

Cohorts are deliberately different from communities and membership plans:

Concept	What it's for
Community	Where a Member sits organisationally (region, team, service branch)
Membership plan	What the Member is funded and enrolled for
Cohort	A characteristic, risk factor or care theme the Member shares with others

Why cohorts matter

There are numerous benefits that utilising cohorts can bring to your organisation:

Find the right people instantly

You can filter your Member list by one or more cohorts. "Show me everyone who lives alone and is a falls risk" becomes a two-click search instead of a spreadsheet exercise.

Better clinical and care decisions at the point of contact

Cohorts appear directly on the Member's record and on the Member panel beside tickets. Whoever picks up a task can immediately see the risk context — no digging through notes.

Reporting and analytics

Cohort membership is included in Member reports, data exports and analytics dashboards. You can compare outcomes, incident rates, service usage or funding utilisation across cohorts — for example, whether falls-risk Members are receiving more or fewer visits than intended.

Targeted communication

Cohort labels are shared with your messaging and marketing tools, so you can send the right updates to the right group — a wet weather safety message to Members who live alone, or an education campaign to a chronic illness cohort.

A historical record, not just a snapshot

Lookout records the date a Member joins a cohort and the date they leave it. You keep a timeline of how a person's risk profile changed over time, which is valuable for audits, reviews and continuous improvement.

Consistency across a growing team

Instead of every care manager inventing their own shorthand in notes, cohorts give everyone one agreed vocabulary.

Automation and integration

When a Member joins or leaves a cohort, Lookout can notify connected systems automatically — so your other tools stay in step without manual work.

Getting the most out of cohorts

Keep the list short and meaningful. Twelve well-understood cohorts beat eighty overlapping ones. If nobody can explain what a cohort means, it won't get used consistently.
Write down what each cohort means and when it should be applied and removed. Cohorts are only as good as the discipline behind them.
Review regularly. Set a rhythm - quarterly, say - to check that cohort assignments still reflect reality.
Archive rather than accumulate. When a cohort stops being useful, archive it. History is preserved and your assignment lists stay clean.
Start with your reporting questions. The best cohorts are the ones that answer a question your leadership team keeps asking.

Create a cohort

Step 1: Navigate to the cohort settings

From your home dashboard, navigate to the overflow menu by clicking the ellipsis (...) next to your name in the bottom left-hand corner.
The overflow menu will open - click Settings.
In the main settings, navigate to the Care section, then click Cohorts.

Top tip: If you don't see Cohorts in the Care section of Settings, your access role doesn't include the cohort configuration permission.

Step 2: Add a new cohort

Click the + New cohort button in the top right.
In Cohort details, enter the Name - this is the only field, and it's what everyone across the platform will see.
Click Save.
A green confirmation banner will appear, indicating that your new cohort was successfully created.
The new cohort is listed alphabetically on the Cohorts page, under the Active tab.

Important: Cohort names must be unique within your organisation. If a name is already in use, including by an archived cohort, you'll be asked to choose a different one.

Add cohorts to Members

There are two ways to assign a cohort to a Member:

Option A: On an existing Member

Open the Members list and select the Member.

From the main navigation menu, click Members to open the full list of Members.
Find the Member you're after - use the search box to type their name, or narrow the list using the filters.
Click the Member's name to open their profile. This will load their Member dashboard.
Scroll to the Cohorts section within their dashboard and click its Edit button.
Tick the checkbox for each cohort you wish to assign to the Member. Untick any that no longer belong to them, if already assigned.
When ready, click the blue Save button.
A green banner will display to confirm that you have successfully updated their cohorts.

You should now see the updated list of cohorts on the Members dashboard.

Option B: When creating a new Member

You don't have to wait for a Membership to exist before assigning cohorts. When you create a Member from scratch, assigning their cohorts is part of the intake. Select any that apply, and they'll be visible as soon as the Membership is created.

Please note: The full onboarding process for a Member is covered in our Onboarding Members article - this article only covers the community part.

Search/ filter Members by cohorts

Once Members are assigned to cohorts, you can search everyone in a cohort in just a couple of clicks - no spreadsheets required.

From the main navigation menu, click Members to open the full list of Members.
Using the filters available, locate the Cohorts filter and click its arrow to expand.
Your active cohorts will display here - any archived cohorts won't.
You'll see a checkbox for each cohort; tick the ones you wish to apply as a filter.
If you tick more than one cohort, the list will show only Members who match all of the cohorts you've selected (for example, "Falls risk" and "Lives alone").
When ready, click the blue Apply filter button.
You'll now see the Members list narrowed to only those in your chosen cohort(s).
You also have the ability to combine cohorts with other filters (community, funding schemes, and so on) for a more precise view.
To remove all your filters, click the Clear button.

Archive/ unarchive a cohort

Archiving is the process of retiring a cohort you no longer use. It's the safe alternative to deleting - the cohort's history is kept, and you can bring it back at any time.

From your home dashboard, navigate to the overflow menu by clicking the ellipsis (...) next to your name in the bottom left-hand corner.
The overflow menu will open - click Settings.
In the main settings, navigate to the Care section, then click Cohorts.
By default, the Active cohorts tab will load, which lists every cohort currently in use.
Find the cohort in the list, and click its ellipsis icon (...) on the right-hand side.
From the options menu, select Archive. This option will show in red because it's a retiring action.
A green banner will display confirming your cohort has been archived. It will now appear in the Archived tab, with an unarchive button should you wish to unarchive at any time.

If you unarchive a cohort, you'll see a confirmation that the cohort has been unarchived, and it will return to the Active tab, ready to assign again.

Please note: There's no separate confirmation screen, so double-check you've picked the right cohort before clicking archive or unarchive.

When you archive a cohort:

It no longer appears as an option when assigning cohorts to Members or during new Member intake.
It stops counting as a current cohort for everyone - so it won't show in the Cohorts panel on Member records, in the Members list filter, or flow to your connected messaging tools as an active label.
Existing history is preserved. Records of who was in the cohort, and when they joined and left, are kept for reporting and auditing.
Its name stays reserved - you can't create a brand-new cohort with the same name while the archived one exists.

What happens next?

After assigning cohorts to a Member:

Lookout records the date and time the Member joined each newly ticked cohort
For any cohort you unticked, Lookout records an exit date rather than deleting the record - so your history stays intact
The Member immediately becomes findable using the Cohorts filter on the Members page
The cohort names appear on the Member's record and in the Member summary shown alongside tickets
Cohort information flows into Member reports, data exports and analytics dashboards
Cohort labels are synced to your connected messaging tools, making the Member available for targeted communications
Connected external systems are notified automatically that the Member has joined or left a cohort

If you rename a cohort, every Member currently in it is automatically re-synced so the new name flows through to your connected tools.

If you archive a cohort, it stops appearing as an option when assigning cohorts and is no longer treated as a current cohort for anyone. It moves to the Archived tab where it can be unarchived later. Historical records are preserved.

What Different People Will See

For Administrators and Workflow Managers

Can create, rename, archive and unarchive cohorts in Settings
Can see both Active and Archived cohort lists
Can assign cohorts to any Member they have community access to

For Care Managers, Rosterers and Support Staff

Can see the cohorts a Member belongs to on the Member's record
Can see cohorts in the Member summary panel beside tickets, giving instant risk context
Can filter the Members list by cohort
Can update a Member's cohorts if they have edit access to that Member
Cannot create or rename cohorts unless their access role includes the cohort configuration permission

For Members and Family (the Care App)

Cohorts are an internal organisational tool. They are not displayed to Members, their families, or Helpers in the mobile apps
Members may notice the effect of cohorts — for example, receiving communications relevant to their situation

For Connected Systems

Your messaging and marketing platform receives cohort labels against each Member
Other integrated systems receive an automatic notification whenever cohort membership changes

Troubleshooting

I can't see the Cohorts option in Settings

Check your access role includes the "Configure cohorts globally" permission (part of Workflow Management). Ask an Administrator to review your role and try logging out and back in.

I can't see the Edit button on a Member's Cohorts panel

You need edit access to that Member, which depends on the communities you're assigned to. Ask an Administrator to confirm your community access.

The cohort I want isn't in the list when assigning a Member

Only active cohorts can be assigned. Check the Archived tab in cohort settings and unarchive it if needed. Confirm the cohort was actually saved - it should appear on the Cohorts page in Settings.

I get an error saying the name is already taken

Cohort names must be unique across your organisation. Check the Archived tab — an archived cohort still holds its name. Unarchive it instead of creating a duplicate.

I completed the steps but nothing changed

Make sure you clicked Save — ticking checkboxes alone doesn't apply the change
Check for validation messages at the top of the form
Refresh the Member's record
Note that changes flowing to connected messaging tools happen in the background and can take a few moments

A Member appears in a cohort they were removed from

Removing a cohort records an exit date rather than erasing history, so the past association may still show in historical reports. Current cohort views should update immediately.

My cohort filter on the Members list returns nothing

Selecting multiple cohorts narrows the results. Try one cohort at a time. Confirm Members have actually been assigned to that cohort.

I can't see an Archive option next to the cohort

Archiving requires the "Configure cohorts globally" permission (part of Workflow Management). Ask an Administrator to check your access role.

I archived a cohort by mistake

Nothing is lost. Open the Archived tab and unarchive it. It returns exactly as it was, with its history intact.

The cohorts filter returns no Members

If you've selected several cohorts, remember that it only shows Members in all of them at once. Try one cohort at a time to widen the results. Confirm Members have actually been assigned to that cohort — check a Member's record if unsure.

A cohort I expected isn't in the filter list

Only active cohorts appear. If it's been archived, it won't show — restore it from Settings → Care → Cohorts → Archived if needed.

I want to keep this list for reporting

Filtering shows results on screen. To take the data with you, use the Member reports or the data export, which include each Member's current cohorts as columns.

Still Need Help?

If you're still experiencing issues, please contact our Support Team and include:

Screenshots (if possible)
The Member's name/email
The exact steps taken
Any error messages received