Family Practice: A Conceptual Review

Family practice is an integrated service delivery approach at the first level of health care delivery, in which the family physician and his team members are responsible for providing comprehensive, continuous, coordinated and individual and family-based health services. However, the concept of family practice in the primary health care system has always been challenging. The aim of this study was to explain the principles and concepts of family practice.

This research was conducted using conceptual review method. Four electronic databases (Pubmed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Web Of Science) and Google Scholar and Google search engines were searched. Finally, 73 articles and documents were selected for final review.

Family practice is a community-based program for health services delivery in which a trained family medical team provides comprehensive, coordinated, continuous, and patient-centered primary health care services to all people of all ages and genders to promote, restore, and maintain their health. Comprehensiveness, continuity, coordination, and patient-centeredness are main principles of the family practice program. Prerequisites for a family practice program include governance and leadership, financing, manpower, equipment and supplies, service delivery, information, and political, social, economic, and technological factors. A family practice program affects the accessibility, quality, efficiency, equity, resilience and sustainability of health services and, ultimately, people health and the responsiveness and financial protection of the primary health care system.

The family practice program has had many achievements. Successful implementation of this program requires understanding its principles and prerequisites. The availability of prerequisites and ongoing evaluation of the family practice program facilitates the achievement of its goals.