A family orientation in health care can provide a wider understanding of illness and a broader range of solutions than the classic biomedical model. This volume thus offers practical guidance for the physician who would like to take greater advantage of this resource. The result is a readable guide, structured around step-by-step protocols that are vividly illustrated with case studies drawn from the authors extensive experience at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

More effective prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation will be the outcome of including the family unit in the delivery of primary care, as opposed to primary care aimed solely at individuals. This is the proposal explored by this volume's interdisciplinary contributors, who discuss theory, practice, education and research methodology related to primary care.

A systematic approach to the role that the family can and should play in improving health care management. The concept of working with families toward this end is viewed as a major step forward in clarifying the role of the physician and nurse in family medicine. Includes numerous case histories.

Partial table of contents: THE CONTEXT AND MODELS OF RELATIONAL DIAGNOSIS. Some Ethical Implications of Relational Diagnosis (M. Gottlieb). Problems Encountered in Reconciling Individual and Relational Diagnoses (W. Denton). Clinical Assessment and Treatment Interventions Using the Family Circumplex Model (D. Olson). Cultural Issues in Relational Diagnosis: Hispanics in the United States (J. Koss-Chioino & J. Canive). VARIOUS RELATIONAL DIAGNOSES: A LEAP INTO THE FUTURE. Oppositional Behavior and Conduct Disorders of Children and Youth (J. Alexander & C. Pugh). Sadomasochistic Interactions (C. Glickauf-Hughes). Relational Components of the Incest Survivor Syndrome (S. Kirschner & D. Kirschner). Chronic Illness and the Family (J. Barth). THE FUTURE OF RELATIONAL DIAGNOSIS. Recurrent Themes Across Diagnoses (F. Kaslow).

This plainspoken, research-based guide offers you practical, direct advice on the important contributions primary care clinicians can make to the well-being of every patient, in every encounter. Features: * Provides guidance on behavioral issues for primary care clinicians * Best available evidence-based, solutions-oriented guide to the patient issues you face daily * Clear answers on families with parenting and developmental issues, and children and adolescents with behavioral problems * Ways to ease patients reactions to illness and assist in changing behaviors that prolong, perpetuate, or exacerbate their distress * Effective ways to help patients modify behaviors that increase their risk for illness and disease * Useful, current answers on complex issues such as sexual problems and eating disorders * Identifying and treating cases of abuse and violence * Strategies for caring for patients you find difficult, overcoming patient resistance, and encouraging therapeutic cooperation * Realistic guidelines on helping with end-of-life, loss, and grief issues * Evidence-based help with explicit psychological symptoms and syndromes, including anxiety, panic, post-traumatic stress disorder, and somatoform symptoms * What every clinician needs to know about managing depression as a chronic disease * Tips that can make the partnership between you and your patients more comfortable and easy every day Other titles in the 20 Common Problems series include Dermatology, End of Life, Ethics, Pediatrics, Preventive Health, Primary Care, Surgery, Urology, and Women's Health Care.