Gordon's 11 Functional Health Patterns

As stated by the World Health Organization (WHO), ‘health’ is defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 1948). The health and wellbeing of individuals is generally determined by their circumstances and environment, a phenomenon referred to as the social determinants of health. WHO describes the social determinants of health as:

* Colorado Springs is very health driven community. There are hundreds of hiking trails and free places to get outside in the community.

According to Stanhope and Lancaster (2008) “Each family is an unexplained mystery, unique in the ways it meets the needs of its members and society” (p. 550). Family nursing is a special field that involves the nurse and family working together to achieve progress for the family and its members in adjusting to transitions and responding to health and illness. The Friedman Family Assessment Model serves as a guide in family nursing to identify the developmental stage of the family, environmental data, family structure, composition, and functions as well as how the family manages stress and their coping mechanisms. From this data, three nursing diagnoses with interventions are developed.

Family Assessment The family chosen for this assignment are family friends who agreed to conduct the interview and discuss any health issues they had. Because some of the questions were fairly invasive into their private lives, no names are given. There are five members in the family, and they all participated in the interview. Questions are based on the eleven functional health patterns.

The section of the population of interest to be considered for further health research and analysis is children. This argument and premise stem from the fact that children are the backbone of the human society and all attention, and positive energy should be

The family structure is the primary care and environmental support for a child struggling with

List two potential problems that a nurse may discover in an assessment of each age group.

The model to use with the Jacques family would be the cognitive-behavior. The cognitive-behavior therapy offers different treatment. These treatments include adjunctive interventions, communal needs, and aversive control (Wetchler et. al., 2015). The adjunctive interventions would be to look at their behavior interaction. This would include that the Jacques family becomes aware of their communication skills. Communal needs involve the Jacques family learning intimacy, nurturance, and

As the society we live in continues to transform, nurses need a comprehensive tool to assess family’s health patterns. Family units are influenced by environment, biological, mental, social and spiritual factors. Assessing these areas for health promotion and disease prevention will take all of these influences into consideration (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). A priority to a family focused health assessment approach is to adequately question, assess and examine these areas. A tool to assist a family health assessment using a family focused approach is Gordon’s 11 Functional Patterns. This paper will use these 11

Historically, the focus of the healthcare system was on treating symptoms and using a ‘Band-Aid approach’ as the primary method of patient care. The current Canadian health-care system is moving from this approach, to a more holistic ideal of healthcare which encompasses all the determinants of health. Although each determinant of health may individually have effects on health, all are interrelated to create a web of elements that form the principles of our physical and mental health (Potter and Perry, 2014 p. 10). Two such determinants of health are social environment, and healthy child development. These two create a cyclical relationship so, if negative, they can have destructive effects on the general health of an individual and those in acquaintance or familiar with them.

The family has various functions that include teaching members’ values, morals and beliefs as they relate to health practices. Health can be defined as a complete state of wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease. Gordon’s functional health patterns are a methodology developed by Marjorie Gordon in 1987 to be used as a guide to establish a comprehensive nursing database (Kriegler & Harton, 1992). Gordon’s eleven functional health patterns are; health perception/ health

“A family is a set of interacting individuals related by marriage, blood, and adoption or by cohabitation interdependently perform relevant functions to fulfill expected role” (Edelman & Mandle, 2010). Systems theory allows a nurse to view patient as a whole family unit, which the action of each member will influence one another. Family developmental theory is to assist the patients through every stage of life. Gordon’s functional health patterns are eleven principles incorporated with the nursing process to collect data, assess patients and families, and provide a diagnosis for

I don’t get involve in health situations of members except those who tell me and ask for prayers, I will say high blood pressure amongst the older adults

My family health assessment was conducted using the 11 Gordon functional health pattern. Marjorie Gordon’s functional health pattern is a guide for establishing a comprehensive nursing date base, using the 11 categories enable nurses determines the following aspects of health and human function (Gordon 1987). The Gordon 11 functional health patterns are health perception/health management, nutrition, elimination, activity/exercise, cognitive, sleep/rest, self perception/self concept, roles and relationships, sexuality and reproduction, coping and stress tolerance, values and belief. This paper will summarize the findings of each health pattern as well as the family based nursing

Local hospitals- Kaiser Permanente, Sharp Grossmont Hospital, Scripps Hospital, Sharp Memorial Hospital are a few big hospitals in San Diego, CA