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THE INFLUENCE OF MARITAL AND FAMILY THERAPY ON HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION IN A HEALTH‐MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION
Author(s) -
Law David D.,
Crane D. Russell
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-0606.2000.tb00298.x
Subject(s) - health maintenance , family therapy , marital therapy , health care , family medicine , marital status , medicine , psychology , medical record , psychiatry , nursing , clinical psychology , environmental health , population , economics , radiology , economic growth
Research has shown that people reduce their use of health care after individual psychotherapy. However, little research has been done to learn if marital and family therapy has a similar effect. Subjects (n = 292) from a health‐maintenance organization were randomly selected according to the type of therapy they had received. Subjects' medical records were examined for 6 months before, during, and after therapy. Those who received marital and family therapy significantly reduced their use of health care services by 21.5%. These results show an “offset effect” for marriage and family therapy.