ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the theoretical progression as it converges to support basic contention, namely, that health promotion and health care should include a primary focus on the family. In an overview of paradigm shifts and theoretical convergence, it traces the influence of the general systems paradigm and the ecological perspective as overarching conceptual frameworks within public health, medicine, health psychology, social work, and family therapy. The ecosystemic and biopsychosocial models are described as synthesizing meta-theoretical frameworks. The chapter reviews emerging perspectives on the family, including the family systems model and family stress and coping models. Overall, the progression of knowledge within the cited disciplines and health professions parallels the trend toward synthesis that characterizes the scientific community as a whole. It is this integration and progression of knowledge that provides the rationale for including a family perspective in health care practice.
