Abstract
To survive in today’s healthcare climate, stakeholders across all mental health disciplines must work to produce empirical
evidence that earns their fields’ regard by educators, providers, and policy makers. As the field of Medical Family Therapy
(MedFT) answers this call, it will be important for researchers to clearly define, characterize, and assess MedFT practice
across clinical, operational, and financial arenas of care. In this account, we propose a common lexicon from which to do
this, highlighting the following core tenets of MedFT: systems theory, biopsychosocial-spiritual sensitivity in practice,
agency, communion, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the three-world model of healthcare. We conclude by offering concrete
ways to advance the MedFT research agenda using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches.
evidence that earns their fields’ regard by educators, providers, and policy makers. As the field of Medical Family Therapy
(MedFT) answers this call, it will be important for researchers to clearly define, characterize, and assess MedFT practice
across clinical, operational, and financial arenas of care. In this account, we propose a common lexicon from which to do
this, highlighting the following core tenets of MedFT: systems theory, biopsychosocial-spiritual sensitivity in practice,
agency, communion, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the three-world model of healthcare. We conclude by offering concrete
ways to advance the MedFT research agenda using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method approaches.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Paper
- Pages 1-17
- DOI 10.1007/s10591-012-9186-6
- Authors
- Tai J. Mendenhall, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 717 Delaware St. SE, Suite 422, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA
- Keeley J. Pratt, Department of Child Development and Family Relations, East Carolina University, 105 Rivers Building, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
- Kenneth W. Phelps, Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, University of South Carolina School of Medicine, 3555 Harden Street Ext. (15 Medical Park), Suite 141, Columbia, SC 29203, USA
- Macaran A. Baird, Department of Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, 516 Delaware St. SE, 6-240 PWB, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA
- Journal Contemporary Family Therapy
- Online ISSN 1573-3335
- Print ISSN 0892-2764