Family Health Assessment Essay Sample

Family Health Assessment

Health assessment refers to an organized process used by nurses to collect information. The process is highly interactive and requires critical thinking. To make an informed judgment on the health status of the individuals or families, nurses analyze and validate the information they have collected (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, & Hanson, 2015). This paper conducts the health assessment of Steve Ali’s family and suggests the appropriate plan of care.

Family Description

Steve Ali’s family comprises five members. Steve, who is 48 years old is the husband and father. He is married to Mary Lawrence, who is 45 years old. Both Steve and Mary are of African-American origin. Together they have three children, two girls and one boy. John Ali is their first born child. He is twenty years old. Their second born child is Sharon Ali, who is fifteen years old. Their last born child is Naomi Ali, who is only eight years old.

Roles of Family Members

Being a nuclear family, Steve Ali as the father and husband is the primary provider. He is also the highest in command in the family. Steve is a mechanic. He has to pay all the bills and work towards raising the status of the family through acquiring the necessary assets. As the father, Steve is responsible for protecting his family, showing love to them and ensuring they remain united. Mary, as the mother of the family, is the second in command. She is responsible for ensuring that food is always available in the house for the family, and disciplining the children.

As the wife of the family, Mary has to guarantee the clean environment and ensure that everyone wears clean clothes every day. Mary works as a receptionist in a local school and hence provides a little additional income to the family. As the oldest child, John is expected to act as the role model to his sisters. During the holidays when John is not in college, he helps his father in a mechanic shop. Sharon is always helping her mother with the house chores. In such a way, Mary provides training for Sharon to become a responsible woman in the future. Naomi is left to enjoy her childhood by playing.

Physical and Psychological Conditions

Steve Ali comes from a family where both parents, Mr. and Mrs. Omar, suffered from diabetes. He inherited the genes and hence suffers from type 2 diabetes. The stressful environment of the workplace became a reason for Mary to develop hypertension over time. The condition of Steve and his wife has been affecting their family in a great way. Treating the two ailments has been draining their finances and bringing emotional trauma to their children. The greatest fear of Steve and Mary is that their children may inherit either of the two diseases, from which they are suffering. For this reason, the parents regularly take their children for screening. Such situation forces Steve’s children to live in constant fear of losing their parents at an early age.

The External Environment, Living Conditions and How the Family Supports Itself

The Alis are quite a large family. They live in a five-bedroom wooden house, with piped water and fitted electricity supply. The house is located in the suburbs of California. It is a spacious and well-furnished house, hence comfortable for the family to live. All children have their separate rooms while there is also a guest room and a parents’ bedroom. The house is surrounded by trees and tarmac roads. All the neighbors including the Alis have lawns and flowers at their houses. The plants are neatly cut and maintained by the families. It gives the environment a pleasant look and also provides fresh air.

Being a small community, neighbors sustain friendly relationships. They support each other’s efforts and babysit for each other’s children. The Alis feel lucky to have supportive relatives, which has been crucial in managing their situation. Steve’s occupation has helped the family to be in good social relations with other people in the community. The family can be categorized as middle-income earners. However, the family earnings are enough to satisfy all their needs.

Age-Appropriate Developmental Task

At 48 and 45 and 21 years of marriage, the Alis have achieved a lot. Steve is a renowned and established mechanic in their neighborhood. He owns a mechanic shop, which implies that he has been able to build good relations with the importers of the car parts as well as satisfy his customers. Being a receptionist at a local school, Mary has acquired skills of interacting with different personalities while remaining calm. With the combined efforts of Steve and Mary, the Alis are able to earn enough to provide for their family.

The parents have also been successful in raising three children. Their son John is in college while Sharon is in high school. Naomi has recently joined the school as well. John is a football player, and Sharon is a poet. The Alis are very supportive of their children, which has helped to boost the children’s self-esteem. The Alis have also been successful in teaching their children how to be responsible. John assists his father in the mechanic shop while Sharon helps with the house chores. Such cooperation enables the children to develop independent thinking. However, as they grow older their needs also increase, which means that the parents should work harder and manage their finances to meet the family’s needs.

 
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Family History of Genetic Predisposition to Disease

Both Steve’s parents suffered from diabetes, which resulted in him inheriting the disease, type 2 diabetes. His wife Mary is hypertensive. She developed this condition due to the stressful environment working as a receptionist.

Immunization Status

The Alis are very keen on taking care of their health. Due to fear of any of their children getting diagnosed with either of the parents’ diseases, they always take the kids for regular screening and immunization. Moreover, the whole family gets immunized whenever the Ministry of Health requires.

Children’s Health Status

Steve’s 8-year-old daughter Naomi is not very active, which has resulted in her becoming overweight. The situation could be complicated by her developing cardiovascular diseases in the future. However, the Alis seem not to worry about it. They refer to Naomi as their healthiest child.

Hospital Admissions

Due to her hypertension, Mary is regularly admitted to hospital. The situation affects the Ali’s family emotionally as well as financially. When Mary is in the hospital, the older children John and Sharon have to perform the house chores usually done by their mother. However, the community is very supportive of the Alis.

Typical Modes of Family Communication

The Alis apply the consensual mode of communication in their family by discussing their issues openly and proposing the solutions. It has been an effective way for Steve and Mary to learn what their children are experiencing. Having face to face communication helps people express themselves better due to the eloquent facial expressions and gestures. The Alis have always been able to find solutions to their problems. In the family, Steve and Mary are the final decision-makers, which has helped to shape the children’s characters.

Evidence of Violence and the Forms of Discipline

The Alis are a very peaceful family with no evidence of violence. When it comes to disciplining their children, Steve and Mary are gentle as they use positive disciplining methods, which includes task allocation and grounding. It is very easy to note that Steve and Mary constantly encourage and praise their children. Such approach has been very successful in addressing the behavior problems.

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Crisis

The Alis have not been very successful in dealing with the emergencies. It might be explained by the fact that they are middle-income earners. Their financial status does not leave them with enough money to handle emergencies that are characterized by large financial needs. However, the Alis are able to deal with other family crises such as stress. In the case of stress in the family, the Alis do something that is fun for the whole family like taking a walk together in the park.

Cultural and Religious Factors Influencing the Family’s Health and Social Status

The Alis are an African-American family. It is a cultural tradition for African–Americans to have very close relationships with their extended families. In times of need, they support each other both financially and emotionally. It helps the Alis handle their crisis but also increase the level of anxiety as they would also want to help others.

Family Goals

The Alis have a number of goals they would want to achieve. Some of the goals include:

  1. Buying a piece of land by the end of the next year.
  2. Building a house within the next three years.
  3. Expanding Steve’s mechanic shop by the end of this year.
  4. Spending more time together as a family.

External and Internal Sources of Support

The Alis receive moral support from their extended families. As Christians, they also receive spiritual support from the religious leaders of their local church. Steve receives support from his colleagues in the mechanic shop. In times when the family experiences a financial crisis, they can get support from the money lending institutions, where Steve and Mary have accounts. The Alis also support each other. Through Mary’s earnings, she is usually able to share the family expenses by providing some groceries and toiletries. Steve, on the other hand, attends to all the bills of the family including school fees.

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Role Conflict

A role conflict is evident in the family. Being a businessman, Steve spends much time in his mechanic shop. On the weekends, he opens the shop half day, which denies him time with his family. As a receptionist at a local school, Mary has to leave the house early and come back late in the evening. Such schedule deprives both parents of spending quality time with their children.

Emergency Plan for the Family Crisis or Disaster

The family has an elaborate emergency plan. Steve and Mary constantly prepare their children for emergencies. They have a communication contact for the family and keep the telephone numbers for making emergency calls.

Three Nursing Diagnosis Plan

A nursing diagnosis plan refers to the clinical findings of an individual, and responses of a family or community to health problems. A nursing diagnosis defines the right plan of care and drives interventions and patients outcome (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco, & Hanson, 2015). Steve Ali experiences frequent urination, increased thirst, fatigue, weight loss, and poor wound healing due to his type 2 diabetes. According to Mainstone (2014), Steve’s condition can be attributed to the risk factors such as having a history of diabetes in their family, poor diet, and physical inactivity. Consequently, Steve is at a high risk of getting a heart disease and stroke, nerve damage, retinopathy, kidney disease, foot problems, and sexual dysfunction (Sperry, 2011). His wife Mary experiences severe headaches, anxiety, and nose bleeding due to her hypertension. Mary’s condition can be attributed to the stressful environment she is subjected to at work and unhealthy diets. With a hypertensive condition, she is at risk of getting a heart and kidney failure (Mainstone, 2014). The eating habits of the youngest child Naomi have made her overweight. It has also been caused by the sedentary life she leads and her constant supply of food. Having such a condition puts Naomi at a high risk of getting type 2 diabetes (Sperry, 2011). It is the same disease that her father is suffering from hence it can easily be inherited. To properly manage their health issues, the family should be educated about the importance of the healthy nutrition and exercise regime. The Alis should also pay frequent visits to the hospital for checkups.

Plan of Care

It would be crucial to conduct a nutrition assessment for all members of the Ali family. Steve should be encouraged to consult with a doctor on a regular basis since the treatment of diabetes varies. He should consume lots of vegetables and fruit in his meals. The best way to cure Mary’s condition is to help her avoid stress. However, it would also be helpful to have Mary’s meals cooked differently so that they contain less sodium. Naomi should be encouraged to play outside the house and be active. Proper medication can be provided to the Alis according to their conditions. Thereafter, it will be important for the whole family to visit the hospital regularly for health monitoring.

Summary

The Alis family has a poor health status. Steve and Mary do not fully realize their health condition as well as their children’s. Steve suffers from type 2 diabetes while Mary is hypertensive. Their last born child Naomi is overweight. It proves that the Alis do not observe their diets. Considering their jobs, Steve and Mary are barely physically active. Steve manages his shop while Mary remains seated the whole day as a receptionist. Due to their long working hours, Steve and Mary spend very little time together or with their children. However, the family has a good relationship.

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Strategies to Promote the Family Health

It is vital to enlighten the family on the importance of keeping healthy diets. They should be informed in detail about the necessity of the physical activity to keep their bodies healthy. Considering that the family is already affected by diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, Steve and Mary should take their children for regular medical checkups. It is also crucial to encourage both parents to take their medication as advised by their doctors so as to reduce the impact of their ailments on them. 

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