Family conferences: an approach to teaching family systems care in a family practice residency

Family conferences facilitate optimal planning for patients in a variety of medical situations. In one family practice residency the social worker plays a leading role in planning and arranging family conferences, while involving residents-in-training in the process. Such conferences provide family-oriented care for a spectrum of illness problems common to family medicine. Such conferences are most commonly held prior to discharging a patient from an in-hospital stay. These sessions may also be arranged when a chronic illness is diagnosed in one member of a family or when there is a medical crisis. Family conferences are convened by a resident physician in collaboration with the social worker and/or other appropriate faculty member.