Practical tools for the development of ambulatory medicine

In ambulatory care, it is essential to provide an integral attention, which is person centered, that includes family, social and cultural variables, not just biomedical. The objective of this article is to know, in a general way, some practical tools frequently used in Primary Health Care (PHC) and ambulatory medicine, to fulfill this challenge: The person centered approach allows us to define the specific needs of the patients and their families, the resources they have, and also, improve participation in decision-making and better health outcomes. In order to determine the networks, the level of functioning and family vulnerability, there are several practical tools, easy to apply in the outpatient consultation, that every doctor and healthcare team should know. Three tools are reviewed in this article: the genogram, ecomap and SALUFAM. Once the patient's family and social context has been defined with the tools mentioned before, in case of recognizing problems or needs, family counseling and the brief therapy or solution-focused therapy, are excellent strategies for approaching complex issues and using the family resources, generating participative action plans according to local reality.