Physicians' usefulness ratings of family-oriented clinical tools.

BACKGROUND: Family-oriented patient care is a cornerstone of family practice. Family practice educators have proposed various methods to help the physician to better assess and treat families. Little is known, however, of the usefulness of family-oriented clinical tools to practicing physicians. METHODS: On a mailed survey questionnaire, 595 members of the Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians were asked to rate the usefulness of 10 family-oriented tools and indicate the frequency of use and level of training received for each item. In addition, physicians rated their current and desired level of competency for involving families in patient care. RESULTS: Two hundred ninety-nine (50%) physicians responded. Most of the tools were rated as useful but used infrequently. Identifying the effects of chemical dependency on the health of families and conducting family conferences were rated as highly useful and frequently used skills. Clinical tools rated as least useful were record keeping by family charts and folders and family function assessment by the Family APGAR: Physicians who had received training in the use of a tool rated it as more useful, except for the Family APGAR and family charts or folders. Physicians with busier practices rated some of the tools as less useful than did other physicians. Respondents indicated a desire to develop their family counseling skills. CONCLUSIONS: Most family-oriented tools were reported to be useful but used infrequently by practicing physicians. Residency programs should continue to provide training for assessing and treating families, particularly in the areas of family systems theory, self-awareness of the physician's own family background, and the effect of chemical dependency on families. Future research should target larger and more varied groups of family physicians.