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.