Psychosocial aspects of hemophilia in families: 2. Intervention strategies and procedures

A brief review is presented of the available literature concerning the efficacy of psychotherapeutic and patient education interventions for hemophilia patients and their families. A session-by-session outline of a family group, educational, intervention strategy is presented, along with a rationale for the content of each session. This strategy utilizes a family systems perspective, is research oriented and experimentally rigorous, maintains a structured, educational focus, and is time-limited. An evaluation plan is recommended to assess the effectiveness of the intervention strategy. Suggestions are given for applying this modular design for use with other chronic disease groups. In addition, the potential for developing a patient education monograph from the material presented in the intervention sessions is described.