A family epidemiological model: a practice and research concept for family medicine.

Drawing on knowledge from various behavioral science disciplines and epidemiology, a conceptual model for use in practice, education, and research in family medicine has been developed. This model uses three overlapping circles of a Venn diagram to represent the host (family system), the environmental, and the agent (stressor) systems. The central overlapping area of the three circles is the "resultant adjustment" of all the multiple interacting variables, and reflects the current state of the family. This concept has been designated the Family Epidemiological Model and is an interactive, multisystem, multivariate model. Some of the educational and practical implications of its comprehensive and exhaustive approach are discussed.