The Concept of Family Health in Nursing Practice

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

Emotional Support and encouraging involvement of family and friends- Listening to patient with undivided attention .Providing clear, timely and meaningful information regarding the illness. Providing enough information regarding the patient’s illness. Respecting and acknowledging the family and friends’ support in patient care and providing supportive environment.

Families always affect one another, even when they feel distanced. The family unit can promote health or it can be a source of stress. It is the nurse's task to use family relationships to act as health facilitators for the patient, and, if necessary, treat the family as part of the patient's social environment. The family creates the patient's environment just as much as a clean room or an accessible place to exercise or access to appropriate medication.

The health of a family is a vital part of how that family interacts with one another and how each individual of the family will function in society, later teaching their children about a healthy lifestyle or lack thereof. The family health assessment helps to identify risk factors and potential dysfunction (Edelman, 2014) I interviewed a single parent family home about their health and how they perceive it. This family is an all-male family, an athletic seventeen year old boy getting ready for his senior year, a twenty year old young man, and a hardworking, dedicated, overweight father.

Communication is key to effective healthcare practices. According to American Journal Of Critical Care (2014), Patient-centered care starts with “effective communication, being empathetic and available, avoiding personal prejudges, and listening therapeutically are integral parts of patient-centered care” (Riley, White, Graham, Alexandrov, 2014, p. 320). This will improve communication; promote patient involvement in care, which creates a positive relationship with the healthcare provider and medical team. This results in improved adherence to treatment plan. Clinical practice guidelines need to be implemented for the patient and family members to be able to be involved in informed decision-making regarding healthcare needs. The fundamental core of nursing is to have a partnership with the patient and their family regarding the patient’s outcome.

Family as context is the first approach that focuses on the patient while the family is in background. The family

In this view, the healthcare provider may include the family in terms of socioeconomic and functional support, but really focus on the patient as an individual (p.36-37, 2003). Family as Sum of its Members sees each member of the family in the foreground and care is provided to all family members. (p.37, 2003). Family Subsystem looks at the significant relationships in the family; parent-child, marital interactions, caregiving issues, bonding-attachment concerns (p.37, 2003), where Family as Client looks further into family’s internal dynamics, relationships, structure and functions and its relationship with the outer environment (p.37, 2003).

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

The person component according to Marchuk’s philosophy and science of human nurturing, is clarified as an exemplified soul in which there is solidarity of nature, brain, and body (Marchuk, 2014). Through experience, I realize that anxiety, depression and low self-esteem most of the time ruins recuperation and successful outcomes. This not only refers to the patient but the family/caregiver as well. Involving the patient’s family into the patient’s plan of care is also known as family-centered care, reinforcing the education also promotes positive patient outcomes. Therefore I always take my time to explore any worries in my patient’s or family member that can influence in their recovery.

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

Client family education is important because it helps to improve a patients knowledge on their health and ways to improve their health, so they can make educated decisions in their healthcare and lifestyle based on what they believe their needs are. Patient education is meant to influence behavior, through increased knowledge and skills to maintain and improve health (Habel, 2005, p.2). Nurse’s have a vital role in patient education, and their collaborative skills can help patient’s obtain the necessary tools needed to promote change. “Cost containment studies have shown that educated patients maintain better health and have fewer complications” (Habel, 2005, p.2), solidifying the importance of patient and family education.

•Encourage family involvement with treatment. More likely to be successful in treatment with a support system.

Both Mr. S and Mrs. M are considered to be vulnerable individuals because of their age and their current medical conditions. Both need interdisciplinary teams to manager their care; therefore, as a primary care provider it is important to provide proper resources and referral for both the patient and their families. In both situations assessments of the patient’s current condition needs to be addressed. In the case of Mr. S focused cardiovascular assessment needs to be done to see how he and his family are managing and controlling his fluid retention. In the case of Mrs. M a focused assessment on her diabetes and RA management would need to be performed. Although both have similarities in their vulnerabilities and delivery of care, there are some differences that set

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.