May 2002 • Volume 8 • Number 5 |
"How does your family handle conflict?" AAFP President Warren Jones, M.D., of Ridgeland, Miss., would like to see more FPs ask this as a patient screening question. As a goal of his presidential year, Jones wants to address the need for FPs to mediate conflicts.
"Family physicians ask: 'Do you have firearms in the home? Do you wear seat belts when you drive? Do you have medicines or toxins within the reach of children?' Asking about conflict in the family is the logical extension in the interest of practicing prevention," says Jones.
Jones is no stranger to this issue. As a teen-ager, he says, he had a "flash temper" and often got into fights. Eventually, his mother sent him away to live with an older sister and her husband, and the change in surroundings helped turn things around for him.
Often, the root of young people's conflict is grounded in self-esteem problems, said Jones. "We've got to get across to young people how to value themselves, how to value their family ties, how to value their communities and de-escalate conflict."
And while FPs may already feel overburdened, the fact is, no other specialist is in as strategic a position as the family doctor. FPs are trained in the workings of family systems, and they should know about community resources available for those entangled in conflict. "Family doctors have the tools -- they need to use them," says Jones.
"This is a part of what we do better than anyone else, because we know the family," he says. "If we don't ask the family, 'How do you resolve conflict?' no one will."
FP Report is published by the
AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2002 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.