FAMILY ASSESSMENT

FAMILY ASSESSMENT

Institution Affiliation

Student Name

Date

Family-Focused Functional Assessment

The questions asked in the interview with the family that agreed to participate were based on the eleven functional health patterns. The family that participated in the family health assessment program was a single parent structure, a mother with two children. The questions were directed towards the personal life of the respondent; therefore, their names will not be mentioned. It was an African American parent who is single, middle class income. The family is religious, Christians and live in the Chicago neighbourhood. It is a mother who is always there for her daughters and works hard to meet their needs.

The overall health behaviour of the family include eating healthy meals, drink plenty of fluids, and children are given junk once in a while. The children snore and the mother works two jobs and gets time to sleep for only 5hours in a day because she works in the afternoon and evening. The family’s bowel movements are normal and temporary changes are experienced but it’s nothing to worry about. The mother creates time to engage in physical activities, twice a week and the types of exercises she does are morning runs and home work-out just to keep fit. She makes all the decisions that involve her children’s schooling and future plans, and she reported that she doesn’t get confused. She has healthy eyesight. She feels that the future will be great because she has done several investments that will yield positive outcomes.

Children are disciplined using praise positive behaviour because she wants her children to grow into a functional family that does not instil fear and reflect negative behaviour when they become adults. She has started seeing someone recently and has never experienced any sexual dysfunction. The most recent stressful event she experienced is increased pressure from work and creating time to spend with her children. Unfortunately, coping strategies were not well defined. The current health of the family is moderate considering the constraints that the single parent has to undergo to ensure that the children are happy and safe. The family eats a healthy diet that includes vegetables and fruits with less junk food.

Based on the findings of the role relationship, I saw this as strength because the parent disciplines her daughters through praise positive behaviour. Descriptive praise is what she mentioned that works best for her children. Descriptive praise means that a parent takes the initiative to tell their children exactly what they like. Praise helps change a child’ negative behaviour and based on what I observed her children are disciplined, they have confidence and self-esteem, (Campbell-Salome, et.al, 2019). At times, she has to use rewards to encourage her two daughters to perform well in academics and at home. The healthy diet and drinking more fluids habit is another strength that the family practices. This is because healthy diet that has plenty vegetables and water reduces the chances of getting chronic diseases such as cancer, obesity and heart disease.

Stress from work and long hours are a barrier to the health of the mother and children as well because they do not get enough attention from their mother. Another barrier to health is lack of enough sleep because she only gest to rest for 4 hours. Lack of enough sleep impedes good health; it can escalate to serious conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes, (Kaakinen, et.al, 2018). Lack of coping strategies also impedes an individual’s ability to make sound decisions. Being able in a position to be able to deal with stress is detrimental because it can affect other aspects of life and overall health of a person.

Family systems theory is a theoretical framework of human behaviour that views the family as an emotional unit and provides insights about the complex interactions in the unit. Family systems theory can help to solicit changes in family members because families tend to affect an individual’s thoughts, actions and feelings, (Healy & Allen, 2019). Emotional interdependence can help promote cooperation and cohesiveness which requires one to feed, shelter and protect their family members. Family members’ actions and emotions may be affected positively or negatively because a change in one person’s sparks changes in how other people around are them will act and feel. In every family, there is that one person who absorbs all the emotions of the family and may suffer depression and even physical health. Families can work together to alleviate their problems instead of letting the negative emotions to take a toll on the entire family. Families need to be emotionally independent to achieve positive changes in family functions.

Questions

Values/Health Perception: How healthy is your family?

Nutrition: How many hours of sleep do you get on working days? Does anyone in your family snore?

Sleep/Rest: How would you describe your diet?

Elimination: Have you ever experienced any abnormal bowel movements?

Activity/Exercise: Do you create time to exercise? What types of exercise do you engage in?

Cognitive: Do you ever experience confusion? How do you make decisions in the house?

Sensory-Perception: How healthy is your eyesight?

Self-Perception: Where do you see yourself in future?

Role Relationship: How do you discipline your children?

Sexuality: How often do you have sex? Have you experienced a sexual dysfunction?

Coping: Have you experienced any form of stress recently? What methods do you use to when coping with stress?

References

Campbell-Salome, G., Rauscher, E. A., & Freytag, J. (2019). Patterns of Communicating About Family Health History: Exploring Differences in Family Types, Age, and Sex. Health Education & Behavior, 46(5), 809-817.

Healy, R. W., & Allen, L. R. (2019). Bowen Family Systems Therapy with Transgender Minors: A Case Study. Clinical Social Work Journal, 1-10.

Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., & Robinson, M. (2018). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research. FA Davis.