Family Support System : Family Essay

“The purpose of this paper is to apply the Family Systems Stressor-Strengths Inventory (FS3I) to a family and present an analysis of the finding.” For the purpose of this paper the family will been known as the Hyppolite Family. The family discussed in this paper is considered a traditional nuclear family living in a single family home. Included is a Father Andrew Hyppolite (AH) age 38, a mother Katharine (KH), age 36, and four children Zoë , Timothy, Sarah, and Scott, whose ages are 9, 7, 5,3. Andrew and Katherine have been married for 10 years. The mother is a stay a home mom who performs household duties and children activities. The husband Andrew works outside the home at an Accounting Firm. Both parents have a

Family systems theory is useful when working with families who are impacted by an ASD diagnosis. The family systems theory focuses on the shift of an individual perspective to a family systems perspective. Family is the most important support system for a child. Family is looked at as a unit, therefore by using the family systems theory the professionals are able to identify the family’s influences on the individual. The family system impacts a child’s development as family members affect the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of one another (Paylo, 2011).

Parent and Community involvement does not occur overnight. I feel that schools must make parent and community involvement a priority, valuing and accepting each other’s differences. Schools, families and communities must work together to support all students in a learning environment to ensure every student is a successful learner. Positive family and school involvement fosters a partnership among my school encouraging students to reach their highest potential academically and in life. Parent and community involvement does not mean stay-at-home mothers coming to school to help as needed, or a businessman stopping by to see events occurring on campus. The role of school, family and community involvement is a partnership incorporating goal-oriented activities for all grade levels linked to academic success and student growth.

Nurses interact with families in a variety of community-based and clinical settings. The family nursing process is the same, regardless of the setting or whether the focus is on the family as a whole or on an individual in that family (Crisp & Taylor 2005). In the case of a 3 year old girl just diagnosed with leukaemia, it is important for a nurse to critically analyse the situation and address any immediate concerns. The nurse must address any professional issues that may arise and any potential impacts of hospitalisation that may affect the child and the family. Also provide support and education to reassure and comfort them. The primary concern for paediatric nurses is the welfare of the child and the family (Crisp & Taylor 2005).

The final stage is the “family in later life”. During this stage, individuals must accept the shifting of generational roles, as they become the grandparents. They must be able to let go of some power to their offspring as they find their new place in the family system. Dealing with this change while facing potential decline in health, financial security, and loss of spouse can be stressful. Grandparenthood can be a reward substitute (Carter & McGoldrick, 1988, p. 20).

The most important core value for this case to me is cultural competence. The National Association of Social Worker’s (NASW) describes the importance as cultural competence for a Social Worker to develop “a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients’ cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups” (2008). This really seems to be key to this case because the school seems to have Heterosexist values, Heterosexism is having prejudices against those that do not fill the heterosexual norm(Burn, Kadlec, & Rexer, 2005). These values tend to have effect on not only the individuals that may be homosexual, but their greater family system. Often heterosexism can increase psychosocial stress for both the family and the individual. This is extremely common and can even be done through anti-homosexual language such as the things Miranda has over heard.

They are on a regular diet with few restrictions on fried foods and fat intake. The children eat school lunch and the parents from outside restaurant choices. Mom tries to cook a meal a day after work or they seldom eat Subway or Pizza Hut. No variation in weight gain or weight loss reported. They try to eat dinner as a family at home on a regular basis. However, this was not feasible all of the time due to dad’s late night work hours and CH basketball practices after school. They generally get 6-7 hours of sleep per night and denied any sleep deprivation. No exercise program has been implemented by this family. CH is the only physically, athletic member. DH stated that he likes to ride his bike. The children are active in Sunday school and participate in summer camp.

When creating care plans for children it is so important to include the child’s family in their care as it will benefit in this case both James and his family in helping to meet his milestonesIt is especially important when creating care plans for children to include where possible the philosophy of children’s and young person’s nursing which is family centred care. (Glasper and McEwing, 2010). Family centred care does not mean that parents have to remain with their child at all-times in hospital.it Care planning is all about prioritising what is best for the patient and putting the patient first (in this scenario James) but also incorporating family centred care in the patients plan. As discussed in care plan 3, we saw how James experienced anxiety as a result of hospitalisation for the first time and how his mother also suffered from anxiety as a result of not being able to stay with James all the time. In spite of this, James’ individualised care plan alleviated this problem by assigning him a nurse that he built a trusting relationship with and by creating a home environment for him by bringing in some family photos and comforts like his blanket and favourite toys.

The family structure is made up of individuals living together in intimate groups with the purpose of caring and supporting each other. Rules and boundaries, spoken and unspoken, are developed by the family members. Family rules and boundaries change and shift over time in order to evolve and grow as a family unit. Some changes are subtle, but some events force major change within the family system. This paper applies the concepts of systems theory to the family system in the movie Sweet Home Alabama. Reese Witherspoon (Melanie Smooter) and Josh Lucas (Jake Perry) star in this heart-warming film telling a story of a young woman who flees from Alabama to reinvent herself in New York City as a high fashion designer. She leaves behind

When I consider family systems, I am reminded of a metaphor I heard while in undergraduate school about a mobile. A mobile is used to soothe an infant, normally placed above a crib or basinet. Each of its parts are in balance, when working correctly, however if one section becomes off balance the objects become out of sync. This is true with families. If each member of the family unit is doing their part, there is complete balance or homeostasis (Henson). This balance is viewed as a healthy family system. However, if one part of the unit becomes off balance, it disrupts the whole unit causing an unhealthy response with possible long term consequences. As families grow, each member plays an equally important role in the family unit. Children learn quickly the importance of relationships and adapt quickly to their environment. No one can deny the family unit is the most complex system in existence.

The Bowen family systems theory can utilize to understand the Gillison’s family dynamics. According to the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (2016) the Bowen family system theory views family as an emotional unit that utilizes systems thinking to comprehend the complexity of the interactions within the unit. The theory describes families as having a major influence on their member’s thoughts, feelings and actions, which leads them to feel as if they are composed of the same “emotional skin”. The members of families, according to this theory, are driven by each other’s attention, approval, and support. The members therefore, react to each other’s expectations and wants and needs. The family is therefore interdependent. One change in one member’s function leads to a change in the functioning of the others. This is evidence in the case of the Gillison family.

The grandparents are faced with financial challenges and limited resources causing them to feel resentment towards their new role as “parent”. Children often go undisciplined not because of a lack of caring but from the huge age differences and energy level of the grandparent(s). The grandparent(s) seclusion from friends and social events can make many of them sink into depression causing further feelings of isolation by the child. Animosity among the grandparents other kids and grandchildren can cause further rife within the family unit.

The history of family therapy began around 1960, when Gregory Bateson coined the term, “system thinking.” This type of therapy was a daring departure, both technically and philosophically, from traditional and individual treatment during the 1960s. Gregory Bateson was inspired. He felt that the unit known, as “the family” needed to be celebrated and that is exactly what he did” (Family Therapy, 2010, Para 1) Along with Gregory Bateson, are a list of several others who contributed to the evolution of Marriage and family counseling. This list includes the founder of social work, Mary Richmond, Mr. W. James, who researched the organic expression of social systems intervention and Mr. J. Dewey. Each of these

Murray Bowen's family system theory was one of the first comprehensive theories of family system functioning. It was developed in 1974 and it believed the family can be defined as a set of interacting individuals who are related by blood, marriage, cohabitation, or adoption and who interdependently perform relevant functions through roles. Relevant functions of the family include values and practices placed on health system theory is used to explain patterns of living among the individuals who make up the family systems (Edelmen, 2006).

A family health assessment is a significant instrument in conveying a health care plan for a family. This paper will discuss the nurse’s role in family assessment and how this task is performed. By the use of family focused open ended questions, 11 functional health patterns were covered. The health patterns were values and health perception, nutrition, sleep and rest, elimination, activities and exercise, cognitive, sensory-perception, self-perception, role relationship, sexuality, and coping. This principle is known as the Gordon’s functional health patterns. Family health assessment defines the assessment of actual and potential problems of individuals (Gordon, 1994). This assessment tool included 11 systematic principles for data collection of the family, and assists the nurses to develop a nursing diagnosis and appropriate interventions. Using Gordon’s functional health patterns, this paper will summarize the findings of each health pattern as well as the family based nursing diagnosis of each assessment. This paper will also discuss different health promotion strategies along with web-based resources, also including a system based theory guide in family assessment.