Advancing Medical Family Therapy Through Research: A Consideration of Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed-Methods Designs

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.Keywords Collaborative family healthcare Á Integrated healthcare Á Medical Family Therapy Á Research agenda Á Research methods Over the past two decades, Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) has emerged as a distinctive subspecialty of Marriage and Family Therapy. Since its foundation, MedFT has adapted and evolved in response to the dynamic and ever-changing landscapes of healthcare, including the advent of healthcare maintenance organizations, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and recent calls for patient-centered medical homes. These shifts in care contexts have presented both challenges and opportunities for the development of innovative disciplines with practitioners who specialize in collaborative care. To survive in today's healthcare climate, all mental health disciplines must work harder to produce empirical evidence that contributes to the body of knowledge about the respective and overlapping effectiveness of treatment approaches to earn favor by educators, providers, and policy makers. As we work to answer this call, researchers must clearly define, characterize, and assess MedFT across clinical, operational, and financial arenas of practice. To this end, the two-fold purpose of this paper is: (1) to establish/confirm a lexicon for MedFT research, and (2) to identify research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixedmethods) that bear promise to advance the field of MedFT.

Medical family therapy.

“…As its practice is better articulated (McDaniel et al, 2014) and its applications are better described (Hodgson et al, 2014), it is expected that the research base will improve. Field leaders are aggressively advancing calls to extend investigative efforts across primary, secondary, and tertiary care environments, and to honor clinical, operational, and financial facets of care along the way (Hodgson et al, 2014;Mendenhall, Pratt, Phelps, & Baird, 2012;Mendenhall, Pratt, Phelps, Baird, & Younkin, 2014).…”

Applying a family systems lens to proxy decision making in clinical practice and research.

“…Family-centered, collaborative, biopsychosocial models of health care have also grown and evolved (Doherty & Baird, 1983; Engel, 1977; Kissane & Parnes, 2014; McDaniel, Doherty, & Hepworth, 2014; Miller, McDaniel, Rolland, & Feetham, 2006; Peek, 2015; Rolland, 1994, in press; Seaburn, Gunn, Mauksch, Gawinski, & Lorenz, 1996; Talen & Valeras, 2013; Wood et al, 2008; Wright & Bell, 2009). There is substantial evidence for the mutual influence of family functioning, health, and physical illness (Carr & Springer, 2010; D’Onofrio & Lahey, 2010; Proulx & Snyder, 2009; Weihs, Fisher, & Baird, 2002) and the usefulness of family centered interventions with chronic health conditions (Campbell, 2003; Hartmann, Bazner, Wild, Eisler, & Herzog, 2010; Kazak, 2006; Law, Crane, & Berge, 2003; Martire, Lustig, Schulz, Miller, & Helgeson, 2004; Martire, Schulz, Helgeson, Small, & Saghafi, 2010; Mendenhall, Pratt, Phelps, & Baird, 2012; Shields, Finley, Chawla, & Meadors, 2012). These systematic reviews summarize the increasing body of research regarding the impact of serious illness on families across the life span and the relationship of family processes to illness behavior, adherence, and disease course.…”

Thinking Big, Supporting Families and Enabling Coping: The Value of Social Work in Patient and Family Centered Health Care

“…For example, it has been suggested that utilizing different titles such as "Clinical Specialists" that focus on HSW competency in clinical practice could emphasize such contributions . Finally, emerging practice-based research that highlights the importance of social work to positively impact patient outcomes and experiences (Luzinski 2012;Mendenhall, Pratt, Phelps, & Baird, 2012;Peek, 2008) should be pursued.…”