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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Ethical Decision Making By Canadian Family Physicians, Ronald Christie, Barry Hoffmaster, Moira Stewart
Ethical Decision Making By Canadian Family Physicians, Ronald Christie, Barry Hoffmaster, Moira Stewart
C. Barry Hoffmaster
Canadian family physicians were sent questionnaires that asked how they would handle the ethical problems posed by six sample cases and what reasons were relevant to their decisions. The ethical problems concerned how much information to divulge to patients, how extensively a physician should become involved in the lifestyles of patients and how to deal with a possible family problem. The study identified characteristics of family physicians that affect their ethical decision making and tested a theoretical model that regards ethical problems as conflicts between respecting patient autonomy and promoting patient welfare. The varied responses suggested that ethical issues are …
The Patient In The Family And The Family In The Patient, Barry Hoffmaster, Wayne Weston
The Patient In The Family And The Family In The Patient, Barry Hoffmaster, Wayne Weston
C. Barry Hoffmaster
The notion that the family is the unit of care for family doctors has been enigmatic and controversial. Yet systems theory and the biopsychosocial model that results when it is imported into medicine make the family system an indispensable and important component of family medicine. The challenge, therefore, is to provide a coherent, plausible account of the role of the family in family practice. Through an extended case presentation and commentary, we elaborate two views of the family in family medicine — treating the patient in the family and treating the family in the patient — and defend both as …