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Family Meeting

  • By: Paula K. Baldwin
  • In: Encyclopedia of Health Communication
  • Edited by: Teresa L. Thompson
  • Subject:Public Health Education & Health Promotion, Health Psychology, Health Communication

Family meetings can be constructed a number of ways and for a number of reasons. These meetings can be held in homes, clinics, or hospitals. Families can hold their own meetings about the care of a seriously ill family member, or sometimes, when a patient is determined to have a serious, life-threatening or terminal illness, a member of the health care professional team will initiate a family meeting. In the latter case, when a family member has a terminal illness, the family may also request a consultation between family members and the health care team members.

Planning the Meeting

Regardless of which type of family meeting occurs, generally speaking, family meetings serve a wide range of functions, but primarily they are used to disseminate information and ...

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