The family is recognized to be a significant social institution. It is an institution where beliefs, behaviors and values are set and are further developed or undermined. On the aspect of health, the family serves an avenue for the development of both emotional and physical health among its members. As in other social institutions not all families are characterized with the qualities to be considered healthy. There are various factors to be taken account into for one to consider a family healthy. Some of these factors include the capacity of each member to emotionally sustain each other and to support in each other in times of conflicts or problems (Voydanoff, 1988). Another is the ability of the family to prevent occurrences of diseases among its members through the awareness and practice of healthy behaviors of each (Redberg et al., 2009).
A health family is characterized with various exchanges - exchange of care, of love, of respect, of good and bad moments (Alesina and Giuliano, 2010). In a healthy family, all members are free to share their opinions, but are also aware of their respective limitations. Further, the members enjoy spending and sharing their time together. On the aspect of physical health, a healthy family has members who are able to function well in carrying out their activities of daily living. In addition, a healthy family establishes and implements measures to further keep each member healthy as well as to prevent the occurrence diseases on each (Redberg et al., 2009).
An unhealthy family, on the other hand, is exactly the opposite with the previously mentioned one. This family is characterized with members who do not participate or share moments with one another. More often than not, only one or two members in the family work hard physically or emotionally to keep the family going. Thus, love, respect and appreciation are not evident in this family. Usually in unhealthy families, certain kinds of abuse are present among members: verbal, physical or mental. On physical health, the unhealthy family may have one or more members who have a disease or comorbidities. The awareness and knowledge on how to prevent or on how to deal or treat the disease may not also be characterized by anyone in this family.
On personal account, I consider my family healthy. When my husband and I decided to get married and started a family, we had in mind what kind of family we would want to build and what kind of values we would want to preserve and practice. In my family, everybody works hard to keep the family going. Each member loves to spend time together and to share his/her daily experiences. In addition, there are limits for all of us. Sometimes when a problem arises, we try to solve it altogether. On the aspect of physical health, we try to live a healthy life style and we take measures to prevent the occurrence of diseases among the members.
References
Alesina, A., & Giuliano, P. (2010). The power of the family. Journal of Economic
Growth, 15(2), 93-125.
Redberg, R. F., Benjamin, E. J., Bittner, V., Braun, L. T., Goff, D. C., Havas, S., & Swegler,
E. W. (2009). ACCF/AHA 2009 Performance Measures for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in AdultsA Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Performance Measures (Writing Committee to Develop Performance Measures for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease) Developed in Collaboration With the American Academy of Family Physicians; American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation; and Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 54(14), 1364-1405.
Voydanoff, P. (1988). Work role characteristics, family structure demands, and work/family
conflict. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 749-761.
