FAMILY-ORIENTED PEDIATRIC CARE - TAKING THE NEXT STEP

Although pediatricians deal with families every day, we frequently fal l into a biomedical trap. Often aware of family issues, we have not al ways been successful in determining how they contribute to the symptom s or complaints. Family-oriented care provides a model for enlarging t he scope of our practice to more effectively explore the role of the f amily environment in a child's health and well-being. Practical sugges tions for implementing this model are discussed.