Advancing medical family therapy through qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research

Over the past two decades, medical family therapy (MedFT) has emerged as a distinctive field within the larger behavioral health system. Since its foundation, it has adapted and evolved in response to the dynamic and ever-changing landscapes of health care, including the advent of healthcare maintenance organizations, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and development of patient-centered medical homes. To survive in this shifting climate, empirical evidence from core metrics is needed to track progress on healthcare quality, cost, patient and public engagement, and health outcomes (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2013). In turn, these metrics may be used to earn favor by educators, clinicians, third-party payers, and policy makers for an integrated model of care. As we work to answer this call, scholars must cohesively define, characterize, and assess MedFT and identify research methods (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) that bear promise to advance the approach and framework.