Family Health Assessment

Family Health Assessment

Grand Canyon University: NRS-429VN

The purpose of this paper is to understand family structure through conducting a family interview using Gordon’s functional health patterns (Green, 2018). “Functional health and well-being of the family can be assessed through an evaluation of family routines, activities of daily living, and both verbal and nonverbal communication” (Green, 2018, para. 18). This paper will discuss the details of a questionnaire answered by one member of a family unit. In addition to the structure of the family, this paper will outline individuals, attributes, and health behaviors of the family. This paper will also include two functional health pattern strengths and three barriers to the family. Lastly, this paper will review how the application of the Calgary family intervention model (CFIM) initiates positive change in family functions (Green, 2018).

Family Structure

Understanding the family’s role relationships, values and health perception is crucial to performing a family health assessment, as well as what the family comprehends regarding their health (Lavareda Baixinho et al., 2016). For this interview, the family consists of the mother who is a 30-year old Hispanic nurse, her 31-year old Samoan boyfriend, and their five-year old son who has Williams Syndrome. For the purpose of this interview, the mother was the family representative. The mother states the family values communication, team work, honesty, respect, love, happiness and health. The mother states the family could be healthier, but she and the father frequent the gym “a couple of times per week, but less than we used to”. The parents take the child to the park, both enjoy recreational softball, and their son recently signed up to play tee-ball. Upon assessment, the parents’ weight is relative to their height and the son is small in stature due to Williams Syndrome.

Family Health

The family realizes that it takes more than physical activity to be “healthy”. The mother states the family has access to healthy nutrition and prepares family meals together to spend time with one another and relieve stress. During meal time, the family does not allow electronics to focus on family connection. The mother also stated that both the father and son “are picky” so it is easier to cook at home. She also recognizes that their son has taste deficits due to Williams Syndrome. The intake and output of the father and child were not provided, but the mother states she drinks water only, drinks 80-100 ounces daily, and has equal urine output. The mother states having regular bowel movements, which she defines as “being able to poop without having to strain or be constipated”, every day with “a lot of fiber in my diet”. Otherwise, the mother states she has a bowel movement every three days. In addition, the mother realizes sleep plays a key factor in health and claims she gets 8-9 hours of sleep on a “normal” day. The mother works night shift and admits during the days she sleeps, she only gets 6-8 hours of sleep. Although the sleeping habits of the father and son were not provided, the mother says she sleeps “fairly well for the most part” and again mentions the limitation of technological devices.

Furthermore, the mother states, “Good health is of the body, mind, and soul”. She claims being proud of herself for her educational accomplishments and feels that this makes her family proud of her as well. She loves to see parts of herself in her son and says, “He is super silly, respectful, and loves everyone. He loves to make people laugh, and he does not stop trying to learn.” As previously stated, the son has Williams Syndrome, which is a “developmental disorder which features atypical social interactions and a lack of appropriate responsiveness to complex social stimuli” (Lough et al., 2015, para. 3). When asked if the family had faced any serious problems together, the mother referred to their child being diagnosed. She further elaborated, between the diagnosis and school, her and the father’s sexual relationship suffered for a time. However, with her schooling completed and learning to cope with their son’s diagnosis, she states not only has this improved, but she looks forward to them being married with another child in 5 years.

Based upon the interview with this family, both strengths and weaknesses regarding health were discovered. The family promotes overall health through physical activity and balanced nutrition. On the other hand, their son’s diagnosis created barriers regarding sexual health, coping, and the cognitive abilities of the son. Through the CFIM, the family can embrace their values regarding communication to seek thoughts, explore feelings, and praise family strengths (Green, 2018). By utilizing this model, positive changes can be made to the overall family functions. Through the family health assessment interview and the use of CFIM, the family can identify their functional pattern and adapt to promote improved family health (Lavareda Baixinho et al., 2016).

Appendix

References

1. Value/Health Perception
   • What do you value as a family?
   • How would you describe the overall health of your family?
   • What does your family do to maintain or improve health?
2. Nutrition
   • How does your family define “meal time”?
   • Who prepares the family meals?
   • What do you consider healthy nutrition and does your family have access to this?
3. Sleep/Rest
   • How many hours do you sleep?
   • Do you have any routines or habits you perform before sleeping?
   • How well do you sleep?
4. Elimination
   • How often do you have a bowel movement and what is a “regular” bowel movement for you?
   • How much of what do you drink and how often do you urinate?
   • Do you face any medical or environmental conditions that make bowel or bladder elimination difficult?
5. Activity/Exercise
   • What physical activities does your family enjoy?
   • How often do you engage in these activities?
   • Are there any conditions that prevent you from performing activities you enjoy?
6. Cognitive
   • How do you learn best?
   • Does anyone have difficulty learning or get easily confused? How does this effect your family?
   • How are decisions made in your family?
7. Sensory-Perception
   • Does anyone in your family have difficulties hearing? How is this addressed?
   • Does anyone in your family have difficulties seeing? How is this addressed?
   • Does anyone in your family have difficulty with taste? What effects does this have on their nutrition?
8. Self-Perception
   • What do you think of yourself?
   • What qualities of yourself make you proud to see in your children?
   • How do you see your family in 5 years?
9. Role Relationship
   • Who lives in your household?
   • How does the structure of your household compare to the one you grew up with?
   • What are things you do to maintain healthy relationships with those you live with?
10. Sexuality
    • What physical or mental issues do you have that make having sex difficult?
    • How do you feel about discussing sexuality with your children?
    • How do you and your partner react to your relationships with people of the sex in which you are interested in?
11. Coping
    • Have you faced any serious problems as a family?
    • Who in the family is the most helpful in family situations of crisis and how?
    • What methods are used in your home to deal with stress?

    Green, S. (2018). Understanding families and health promotion. In Grand Canyon University (Eds.), Health promotion: Health and wellness across the continuum. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/#/homehttps://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs429vn/health-promotion-health-and-wellness-across-the-continuum/v1.1/#/home

    Lavareda Baixinho, C., Mertens, J., Duarte, A. F., Teixeira, F. M., Quental, I. A., & Silva Martins, S. (2016). Nursing interventions promoting functionality among adults with multiple sclerosis: Integrative review. Journal of Nursing UFPE/ Revista de Enfermagem UFPE, 838-847. Retrieved from https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.5205/reuol.6884-59404-2-SM-1.1002sup20161

    Lough, E., Hanley, M., Rodgers, J., South, M., Kirk, H., Kennedy, D., & Riby, D. (2015). Violations of personal space in young people with autism spectrum disorders and Williams Syndrome: Insights from the social responsiveness scale. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 45(12), 4101-4108. Retrieved from https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2536-0