TY - JOUR T1 - What about the context in family medicine? JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 56 LP - 58 DO - 10.3399/bjgp10X482176 VL - 60 IS - 570 AU - Mariet Paes AU - Jan De Maeseneer Y1 - 2010/01/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/60/570/56.abstract N2 - The conclusion of the Alma-Ata Declaration in 1978 was strong and persuasive: ‘The international conference on primary health care (…) strongly reaffirms that health, which is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right and that the attainment of the highest possible level of health is a most important world-wide social goal whose realisation requires the action of many other social and economic sectors in addition to the health sector.’1Numerous studies on health differences document the fact that socioeconomic conditions influence people's health.2–3 Including the context is a deliberate choice in family medicine. Typically, family medicine consists of contact with the whole family system. Family physicians are generalists. They have a long-term commitment, and very often there is a close relationship between doctor and patient, leading to an accumulation of knowledge over many years.4 Does this mean that contextual family medicine addresses the social determinants as formulated in the broad Alma-Ata definition, and how is this being done? In this article we focus on two health centres: one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands. Both health centres are situated in socioeconomically deprived areas. What can be learned from research on more than 30 years established practice of community-based health care?In primary health care, professionals, in principle, have a long-lasting relationship with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood: there are many encounters over a long period. This is the case with chronic patients, multi-problem families, but also with healthy people. Although nowadays there is a strong emphasis (coming from efficiency-logic) on short interventions in health care, an essential feature of primary health care is that people living in the neighbourhood have contact with professionals from various perspectives: there is … ER -