Family Assessment Research Paper

From a pediatric perspective, the family is an integral part of the healthcare team. Parents are the primary ally and resource in providing individualized care for their child. Even in adult patients, who they are is impacted by the relationships that they have. Serious or chronic illnesses and injuries affect the entire family. The family, then, becomes the patient, particularly when it is necessary to make lifestyle changes.

Many people have many different definitions of a family. Some include family as the people they live with, some include their entire extended family, and some include friends, neighbors, coaches, and teachers. According to the Vanier Institute (2013), a family is “a combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth, and/or adoption” (para. 2). Whichever way you look at it, families often play a major role in life. It only makes sense that when a person begins to go through a drastic change in life such as illness, the family will be involved. This is why it is important that nurses learn how to provide suitable client and family centered care. They can do this by following the four

George Huntington first described Huntington’s disease in 1872, but it was only mentioned to the

Using the CFAM to conduct a family interview, I identified a nursing diagnoses and interventions for the family I interviewed.

A positive self image is conveyed to all family members. Even minor accomplishments such as good report card grades are praised and sometimes awarded. The family is currently dealing with change as far as the grandfather’s illness. Selective inattention and intellectualization are two of the defense mechanisms being used for avoiding this problem (Clark, 2003). Slowly, the use of talking with family members and expressing both positive and negative emotions are being used as coping strategies. The entire extended family comes together in a crisis which helps every member of the family to deal with the situation.

A comprehensive family assessment provides a foundation to promote family health, Edelman & Mandle, C. L., (2011). This assessment of family health offers many approaches that involve getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of the family. According to Stanhope & Lascaster (2010), the family nursing assessment is the cornerstone for family

A comprehensive family assessment provides a foundation to promote family health (Edelman & Mandle, 2011). 1987 Marjorie Gordon purposed 11 functional health patterns to use for guidance in order to facilitate nurses to have a frame work for the family assessment in. Gordon’s 11 functional health patterns help organizes basic family assessment information. This standardized format will guide nurses to complete the family assessment using system approaches, which will identify a patient’s

In this paper the subject to identify is a family assessment using the Friedman Family Assessment Model, including three nursing diagnosis.

Using Gordon’s functional health patterns to assess a family will guide the nurse in developing a comprehensive nursing assessment that is holistic in nature. Gordon’s functional health patterns are founded on 11 principles that are incorporated within the nursing practice. These 11 principles serve as a framework for a thorough nursing assessment in which to build a holistic and individual family care plan (Grand Canyon University, 2011). The author has developed family-focused questions for each of the 11 principles and utilized these questions as a tool to assess her own family. This paper will summarize the family assessment that was performed by the author and discuss two wellness nursing diagnoses that

It is important to know that Huntington’s disease is not curable. There are treatments and medications that are being used to help decrease the symptoms of this disease and slow down the advancement of it. Physical therapy and counseling is being used frequently as a treatment for Huntington’s. Physically, the victim with Huntington’s disease or slowly progressing into having Huntington’s disease, need some form of physical therapy to help with having unstable and involuntary motor control. Physical therapy is consisted of physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Physiotherapy focuses on the body’s main functional movements such as walking or standing. Occupational therapy focuses on finding new ways to

The next disease being discussed, Huntington’s Disease, is a hereditary progressive neurodegenerative disorder that can affect the psyche, emotions, and behavior. However, it is most commonly known for the loss of cognitive functioning as well as motor disturbances (Leffler, 2011). Usually the initial signs of Huntington’s Disease starts with jerky movements that can affect various parts of the body (face, arms, legs, etc.) as well as the gradual beginnings of dementia; the memory is usually impaired. There also may be disorientation, or disillusioned ideas of time, place or identity, as well as personality changes and possible increased agitation. Common neurobehavioral changes include: a tendency to blame others for one’s faults, suspiciousness, impulsiveness, constant complaining, lack of self-control, and lack of

Huntington’s disease (HD) is neurodegenerative disease related to some manifestations developing through the path of the disease as movement disorders in the form of incoordination and chorea in first stages, then dystonia, rigidity, and bradykinesia which become more aggressive .finally, patients die 15 to 25 years from the beginning of the first manifestations(1-4) Brains from patients with HD show neuronal degeneration ,mainly in the striatum.The mechanism of neuronal degeneration is uncertain but mitochondrial dysfunction may be one of the important contributors to neuronal dysfunction and finally neurodegeneration in HD.(5-7)

Parkinson’s and Huntington disease both have a few symptoms in common like rigidity which is stiffness of limbs, making the individual not able to swing or move their arms when walking because their muscles are tight.

Huntington’s disease can be treated with medications in order to manage the symptoms and make life easier for these patients.

Imagine a life where you slowly begin to become irritable, depressed, you can’t control your movements, coordination, and you’re having problems learning things and making decisions. As the days go on, you begin to develop involuntary jerking, which become more pronounced each day. You begin having problems walking, speaking, swallowing, along with changes in your personality, thinking and reasoning abilities. Every day comes with the feelings of “drunkenness,” and a slowed down thought process. Approximately 3-7 people out of every 100,000 that came from European background, or 30,000 Americans, have this issue in their lives, and the cause of it is Huntington’s disease. According to Huntington’s Disease Society of America, HDSA, this disease