Performing a family health assessment is an essential element of developing a comprehensive health care plan for a family, and it will also allow the nurse to highlight the areas where they should focus their efforts. A nurse must do a thorough and accurate health evaluation in order to provide good care to their patients. A comprehensive family assessment will serve as the foundation for promoting family health (Wright, 2012). Following a thorough health assessment, the nurse will be able to commence disease prevention and health promotion programs to assist in inspiring a healthy lifestyle (Potter, 2016). Through the utilization of Gordon’s functional health pattern theory, this essay will summarize an assessment on a Italian family of four by asking three open ended questions in the eleven categories and also develop two wellness diagnoses.
Values and Health Perception
Health perception and values are based on a person’s perception of their health as well as their beliefs and values (Wright, 2012). The Italian family that was interviewed are staunch Christians who read the Bible and follow its teachings; the husband is 46 while the wife is 42 years and they have two daughters one is fifteen years while the other one is seven years. They put great importance on bonding time as a family as they firmly believe it’s an opportunity of imparting their beliefs and culture from Italian into their kids. Their values are rich in the Italian tradition, and they usually celebrate their heritage every time they have a chance. The wife has diabetes and is constantly under medication as prescribed by her doctor whom she has a follow up with yearly together with her endocrinologist. She is a strong believer in health care that prevents disease and ever since her diabetes diagnosis she completely changed her ways. The husband is overweight and acknowledges that he is unhealthy, but he does not seem to be bothered by it. Apart from being overweight he also has high blood pressure of which he takes prescriptions for it and follows each direction for his medication given by his pharmacist. Their two daughters, on the other hand, are healthy and have been immunized; they also go for routine checkups, they dance and engage in sports physicals. Sunday service is a must for the family, and the daughters love and enjoy it as they even participate in the choir.
Nutrition
Nutrition for this family means getting the vitamins and minerals that are needed and being healthy. Their diet is usually rich in vegetables, fruits, cheese, sausages, and meat. They also love using sauces and trying out different types of foods. They have a garden where they reap and harvest each year. For breakfast, the couple has coffee; the daughters have three meals a day as well as two snacks a day. Each evening the husband and wife either drink beer, cocktails, or wine while the children have milk or juice.
Sleep and Rest
The family believes they receive eight to ten hours of sleep at night. The couple explained that since they get home by 2:30 pm they usually take a nap for fifteen to thirty minutes to rest and freshen up. Bedtime is usually by 10 pm on weekdays and at 11 on weekends. There were no sleeping disorders that were reported as they all sleep throughout the night and wake up feeling refreshed.
Elimination
The wife admits to struggling with constipation and to overcome it she has increased her intake of fiber and fiber rich foods. The husband and children rarely struggle with constipation but they all feel that they do not have a problem with their bowel movement. Their community has no sewer issues as their main sewer system is regularly managed, and there is also adequate clean water available to meet their elimination needs.
Activity and Exercise
The husband as an activity loves to cook now and then while the wife loves to go out for a walk which she usually does it for four days in a week. As a family, they like to go for fishing, camping, skiing, and hikes. The two daughters are part of a dance group and also play soccer as they love exercise and find it to be fun. While the wife and children are more into physical activities, the husband believes that being outside is healthy enough.
Cognitive
When they family was questioned on their ability to remember things they remarked that they are like every typical family that at times they forget where the car key is or even where they left their homework. They did not have any issues with hearing, reading, and writing but three of them wear prescription glasses. There were no neuro deficiencies recorded in the family.
Self Perception
Both the husband and wife do not have a problem with self-esteem, the husband even stated that he knows he is fat, but he still loves himself. The wife claims that her high self-esteem is a result of her changing her eating habits and exercising regularly. Their fifteen-year-old daughter, on the other hand, struggles with low self-esteem because she has teen acne, as for the nine-year-old girl she feels that she is beautiful and loves her hair.
Role Relationship
The couple has good paying jobs that they love; the husband is a speech therapist while the wife is a lawyer. In terms of their role in the house they feel that they are both bread winners, the father is the disciplinarian, sets the rules, and makes arrangements for vacation. The mother is in charge of cleaning, doing the laundry, and taking care of everyone else. They love the roles that they play, and they feel that it is workable for them.
Sexuality
The family is open on the topic of sexuality and has discussions on it together and maintains open communication. They view education on sexuality and contraception an important subject that should be dealt with when children start to go through puberty. They never shy off from displaying their affection in public as they even hold hands in public and share a kiss.
Coping
In regards to coping they handle stress together as a family where they have discussions and maintain open communication, and they also believe in prayer as one of the best coping mechanism. When any one of them is sick, they meet it head on with prayers and make visits to their family physician.
Wellness Diagnosis
Based on the information collected there were two wellness diagnosis that were established. The first one was readiness for enhanced exercise patterns and the second one was readiness for enhanced self-perception (Weber, 2013). The family was open to learning and increasing the knowledge they have on health and well-being. The father and the sixteen-year-old answers on self-perception opened up the discussion on finding ways to improve self-image and confidence.
Conclusion
For family health to be sustained it greatly relies on the ability of the nurse to conduct a comprehensive family assessment. By using Gordon’s functional health patterns, the evaluation brought out information that a nurse would not have gotten from a physical assessment. The assessment made it easy to know the health habits, diagnosis, and to promote family health by knowing how to prevent diseases and having a healthy lifestyle.
References
Potter, P. A. (2016). Fundamentals of Nursing. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Weber, J. R. (2013). Health Assessment in Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Wright, L. M. (2012). Nurses and Families: A Guide to Family Assessment and Intervention. F.A. Davis.
