The impact of joint consultation with family physicians on perception of psychologists

Evidence in the literature indicates that psychology is regarded favorably. The public, however, appears somewhat confused about the role and functions of psychologists. This may impact upon the capacity of professionals to assist the wider community. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the presence of a psychologist in the primary care setting together with the physician affects the image of psychologists among the public. An observational study was conducted on a group of 227 patients recruited in the waiting rooms of 4 primary care practices: the physician worked in a joint consultation with the psychologist in 2 of these practices, whereas the physician worked alone in the other 2. Propensity score-matching was used to minimize any bias arising from a nonexperimental design. An open-ended question was conceived to assess people's perception of psychologists. Our findings show that almost 65% of the participants thought that the psychologist addresses daily life problems and 96% considered the psychologist useful. No significant differences between the 2 groups emerged regarding how useful psychologists are and the issues they address, while patients who attended a joint consultation were 4 times more likely to perceive the personal relevance of the psychologist than those who consulted the physician alone (odds ratio [OR] = 4.3, p < .02). In conclusion, this study reveals a positive public image of psychology, though a joint consultation setting appears to be required to induce patients to consider psychologists as relevant to themselves.