Family, health and disease: What the research says?

Abstract

This article addresses several important lines of research on family and health, especially the impact of the binomial family health / disease. Several research studies show that family influences the health status of its members and health care more efficient and effective are those in which there is cooperation between the physician, the patient and family. Some authors have developed a model that allows organize in a logical research on families and the impact on health and disease in the context of general practice. This model allows to grasp the importance of the role of families and the interactions between the family system and the health system through categories that mirror different stages of the context of health and disease from the family's influence on risk factors and prevention of disease, family vulnerability and illness taking into account the influence of stress responses family and relatives the acute phase of the disease. To highlight the importance of the impact of family functioning in the course of chronic disease and how the disease affects adaptation and rehabilitation. The role of the health professional should be to integrate the patient in their family and social context, being aware of the importance of the family and its influence on disease, and is also as a resource for the system in times of greatest stress individual or family and intervening to allow a proper resolution of the problems of physical and psychological health facing patients and their families.