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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 …