Family assessment in the medical setting

Acute and chronic illness exists in a social context. A biopsychosocial assessment should include an evaluation of the patient's social situation, the nature of the patient's interpersonal connections, and his/her family's functioning. Families can influence health by direct biological pathways, health behavior pathways, and psychophysiological pathways. There are a large number of family-based risks factors as well as many protective relational factors that influence the onset and course of illness. A family assessment is the first step in determining both the need for further intervention and the specific areas of family life that might need to be addressed. A family assessment provides information about the social substrate for the evolution of the presenting complaint as well as information to better understand the patient's problems. There are many ways to assess families, and there are a variety of family assessment instruments to help with the assessments. Clinician will be best served by becoming familiar and comfortable with at least one assessment model that is consistent, structured, and evaluates a wide range of family functions. Such an assessment can be incorporated into routine clinical care. A good family assessment can be therapeutic in and of itself even if the decision is made that no further family intervention is indicated.