Problem behaviour in primary health care

Abstract

Primary health care can be regarded as the boundary between society as a whole and the medical system. Many of the problems patients bring to doctors in primary care are concerned with their personalities and life situation, and can be considered together as problems of human behaviour.On being questioned in a waiting room, 15 per cent of patients considered their problem "psychosocial only", and an additional 13 to 14 per cent "both somatic and psychosocial".I believe that the concept of the primary health care team is particularly valuable in managing problems of behaviour, and nondoctor members of the team play a crucial role.In my opinion it is questionable whether people's life problems should be channelled through primary health care, but in the meanwhile it seems clear that in most western societies the fact is they are.