<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The aim of our systematic review was to analyse the published literature on the psychosocial dimension of care in family medicine and its relationship with quality of care. We wanted to find out whether there is any evidence on the psychosocial approach in (family) medicine. The recommended bio-psycho-social approach, besides the biomedical model of illness, takes into account several co-influencing psychological, sociological and existential factors. An online search of nine different databases used Boolean operators and the following selection criteria: the paper contained information on the holistic approach, quality indicators, family medicine, patient-centred care and/or the bio-psycho-social model of treatment. We retrieved 743 papers, of which 36 fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Including the psychosocial dimension in patient management has been found to be useful in the prevention and treatment of physical and psychiatric illness, resulting in improved social functioning and patient satisfaction, reduced health care disparities, and reduced annual medical care charges. The themes of patient-centred, behavioural or psychosocial medicine were quite well presented in several papers. We could not find any conclusive evidence of the impact of a holistic biopsycho-social-approach. Weak and variable definitions of psychosocial dimensions, a low number of welldesigned intervention studies, and low numbers of included patients limited our conclusions.</p></abstract>

The aim of our systematic review was to analyse the published literature on the psychosocial dimension of care in family medicine and its relationship with quality of care. We wanted to find out whether there is any evidence on the psychosocial approach in (family) medicine. The recommended bio-psycho-social approach, besides the biomedical model of illness, takes into account several co-influencing psychological, sociological and existential factors. An online search of nine different databases used Boolean operators and the following selection criteria: the paper contained information on the holistic approach, quality indicators, family medicine, patient-centred care and/or the bio-psycho-social model of treatment. We retrieved 743 papers, of which 36 fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Including the psychosocial dimension in patient management has been found to be useful in the prevention and treatment of physical and psychiatric illness, resulting in improved social functioning and patient satisfaction, reduced health care disparities, and reduced annual medical care charges. The themes of patient-centred, behavioural or psychosocial medicine were quite well presented in several papers. We could not find any conclusive evidence of the impact of a holistic biopsycho-social-approach. Weak and variable definitions of psychosocial dimensions, a low number of welldesigned intervention studies, and low numbers of included patients limited our conclusions.

The Role of the Psychosocial Dimension in the Improvement of Quality of Care: A Systematic Review

University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Poljanski nasip 58, 1000 Ljubljana,

University of Maribor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Taborska ul. 8, 2000 Maribor,

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

VLOGA PSIHOSOCIALNE DIMENZIJE V IZBOLJŠEVANJU KAKOVOSTI OBRAVNAVE BOLNIKA: SISTEMATIČNI PREGLED LITERATURE

The aim of our systematic review was to analyse the published literature on the psychosocial dimension of care in family medicine and its relationship with...

The Role of the Psychosocial Dimension in the Improvement of Quality of Care: A Systematic Review

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Mar 10, 2016

Page range: 86 - 95

Received: Feb 23, 2015

Accepted: Jul 02, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2016-0004

Keywords
general practice, social problems, psychosocial care, quality of health care, reviews

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The Role of the Psychosocial Dimension in the Improvement of Quality of Care: A Systematic Review

Article Category: Review article

Published Online: Mar 10, 2016

Page range: 86 - 95

Received: Feb 23, 2015

Accepted: Jul 02, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2016-0004

Keywordsgeneral practice, social problems, psychosocial care, quality of health care, reviews

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
general practice, social problems, psychosocial care, quality of health care, reviews