Guideline 7: Including large families

Attending consultations with a large number of family members may be culturally appropriate or emotionally comforting for some patients ²⁵.

A part of being a ‘patient- and family- centred’ clinician is accepting that families come in many different forms, including large families.

But, accommodating all family members may not be feasible (like when ten family members try to squish into a clinic room).

There also may be times where the number of family members is too overwhelming or counterproductive to an effective consultation ²⁵.