SFAT-AM - SHORT FAMILY-THERAPY IN AMBULATORY MEDICINE - TREATMENT APPROACH IN 10-15 MINUTE ENCOUNTERS

The question of the possibilities latent within an appointment lasting on average only 10-15 minutes, under the pressures of a heavy workloa d in a public clinic, has occupied the authors for three years. SFAT-A M: Short Family Therapy in Ambulatory Medicine, has been developed wit h aim of offering solutions to this question. The theoretical backgrou nd is taken from family medicine with a biopsychosocial (b.p.s.) syste ms approach. The authors formulated series of basic doctor-patient enc ounters which last on average 10-15 minutes. The basic encounter is a kind of didactic checklist model which presents to the doctor possibil ities latent within. Emphasis is placed on the art of treatment and th e meeting itself as therapeutic. During the meeting, patient's satisfa ction, psychosocial information and the doctor's inner voice help the participants adjust to each other and move from stage to stage. The ap proach also relates to the possibility of joint work together with col leagues or with members of different teams in the clinic. The doctor m akes use of communication techniques and reaches a b.p.s. diagnosis wh ich will be the basis for suggesting a treatment. The presented model was tried by the authors and by trainees as part of a specialization c ourse in family medicine. The trainees received between 20 and 70 acad emic hours of instruction. From the doctors' report it can be seen tha t SFAT-AM can be used in a primary clinic. Future research should give more specific answers to questions about the model's desirability, co st-efficiency, and job satisfaction. (Doctors will be referred to in t he male gender throughout the article).