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A biopsychosocial approach to finding common ground in the clinical encounter
1Department of Family Practice and Community Health, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa 96789, USA. seiji@hawaii.edu
Purpose:
Little is known about how clinicians find common ground in conflicts with their patients or how educators can teach physicians-in-training to do so. The authors set out to create a conceptual model for the process of finding common ground.
Method:
Students in a third-year family practice clerkship wrote up cases they had encountered in which conflicts arose in the patient-doctor relationship. The authors analyzed these cases, first independently and then collectively. After several iterations, they arrived at a model grounded in the case material.
Results:
The authors suggest that a modification of the biopsychosocial model first proposed by Engel and later updated by McWhinney is an appropriate and practical schema for classifying sources of conflict. This hierarchical system consists of five levels: (1) individual patient, (2) relationship between patient and physician, (3) patient's family, (4) ethnic belief systems of patient and family, and (5) political economy.
Conclusion:
This hierarchical, multilevel biopsychosocial approach allows the clinician to identify the level in the system at which a conflict has arisen. This clarifies the strategies for resolution, making it easier for patient and doctor to find common ground. This may also be a useful heuristic model for teaching such skills to physicians-in-training.