Defining the family in family medicine: implications for social workers.
Physicians and social workers in the family medicine setting anticipate that a substantial portion of their practice will consist of intact, nuclear families. This study examined that expectation by collecting data on age, sex, and marital status of the patients in a family practice residency. Two separate methods of sampling the practice were used, and each resulted in a different picture of the practice. A dramatic finding was that 9% of the patients with active medical charts consumed 45% of the medical care. Women and patients over age 40 were overrepresented in the sample of frequent-user patients. Social work implications are presented.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D005190:Family; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012947:Social Work