Family Health Assessment
Family Description
The family that will be discussed in this paper is a blended family of Caucasian descent. Included is a father, age 50, who has a daughter from a previous marriage age, 15, a mother , age 48 with three children whose age are 25, 20 and 15 respectively. The father’s biological daughter was from a previous marriage which ended in divorce because of irreconcilable differences with his previous wife. The mother was a widow after her previous husband died of a heart attack four years ago. The family combined two years ago after the mother and father met during the parent-teacher conference of their children and fell in love.
The father is an employee in an insurance company and he is the breadwinner of the family. The mother is already retired from her previous job, but she volunteers frequently in different school programs. The children in the mother side are all closely bonded despite their age difference. The eldest son no longer lives with them and is working in construction. He is already married with one child. The youngest daughter of the mother is also bonded well with her stepsister because they are of the same age and they go to the same school. Although there is not strain relationship between the father and the mother’s biological children, the two elder children do not have a close relationship with the father because he was present in their early adult lives. The eldest son was already married when his mother remarried and the middle child is female and is now planning to move out of the house and go to community college.
In general, the remaining family members who are living inside the house, except the 20 year old middle daughter, are trying to have a bonded relationship with one another. The eldest son of the mother comes over during the holidays with his family and they also have a civil relationship with his stepfather. The two youngest daughters also have a good relationship with their parents’ new spouses. There is no problem in terms of financial aspect because the father’s job is stable and is providing for the family’s needs.
Family Health Assessment
The father on the other hand does not have a history of diseases or heart ailments in his side of the family and there are no serious conditions on the side of his ex-spouse which could have passed on their daughter. However, because he works five days a week he usually complains of back pains. With that, he makes sure that he goes to their family doctor every year to ensure the status of his health and for his doctor to prescribe something whenever he has back pains. Everyone in the family are in good health and according to the mother, the most serious condition her children ever experienced was only having fever or flu during cold seasons. She said that her children were never hospitalized for serious ailments. When asked about the children’s immunizations, both parents said that they made sure that their children were immunized according to their age and they also make sure they get flu shots from their doctor every year.
The father and mother are sexually active despite their age and the father’s busy schedule at work. However, because the mother is nearing 50, they are not planning on having children of their own and decided to focus on their children and the relationship of their family. They also believe that since they both have daughters who are in the adolescent age, it is important to educate them about sex and how to use contraceptives if ever they become sexually active. Although they are Christians, they are not that strict when it comes to their children and their choice of having a relationship with other people. Lastly, from the information gathered, there is no family member who has mental problems. The father and mother are both educated and are able to make smart decisions when it comes to their family’s health by providing the right food for the children and also encouraging them to do physical activities.
Family’s Physical Condition
The family lives in a three bedroom two-story home. All three bedrooms are located on the second floor along with one bathroom and on the ground floor is where the living room, dining room and one bathroom are located. The home was the original home for the mother and her children with her deceased spouse. As of now, one room is occupied by the parents and the other room is shared by the two youngest daughters and the other room was occupied by the mother’s middle child. The mother revealed that one of the youngest daughters can occupy the third room once the middle child goes away for college.
Their home is situated in a nice neighborhood which is just a ten minute ride away the main town where shopping centers and other shops are located. Although the mother is not working anymore, the father is still able to provide for the family since he is only supporting two high school children and two of the mother’s children are already independent. The middle child is also working as a waitress but she is only supporting herself and saving up for her plans to enter a community college. The two younger daughters were told to focus on their studies so that they can have a scholarship to go to college unlike the other two children who only went to community colleges.
Family’s Developmental Stage
The family’s current developmental stage is about raising the remaining two children. When they were questioned, it seems that although they are a blended family, they have progressed through the stages positively. Since both the father and mother already have adolescent children of their own, they started with launching their children. When they decided to marry each other they were able to assign developmental tasks to the children and to each other. Developmental tasks happen whenever transitions and changes take place within a family in order to accommodate a new stage (Office of Family Science Education, Research and Policy, n.d.). Before they got married, they made sure that their children new each other and interacted well. The father also made sure that he promised the mother’s biological children that he will be a good husband to their mother and also take care of the youngest daughter just like his own. The mother also did the same on the biological daughter of the father and promised her that she will take care of her just like her own. Now the family is focusing on following the normal stage of taking care of two adolescent girls who are preparing their future and go to college.
Family Communication Process
Since the father is the breadwinner in the family, he usually makes the important decisions inside the house. However, he does not hold any authority over the adult children of the mother since he met them when they were already adults. The younger child of the mother on the other hand acknowledges the father as her new father and usually follows his authority just like she follows her mother. Decisions are made inside the family by asking the opinion of each of the family member but the father will make the ultimate decision being the man of the house.
There are two types of family communication being considered in this paper and these are instrumental and affective. Instrumental communication is the exchange of information so that the people inside the family can do their role, while affective communication refers to how family are able to share their emotions to the other members like happiness and even anger (Lee, 2013). The family is following the affective type of communication because the two youngest daughters are very open to their parents. When asked, they said that they are comfortable talking to their parents and to each other about their problems and experiences because they use an open mind when listening to them. The eldest child and the middle child of the mother on the other hand only opens up to their biological mother and not their stepfather because they did not grow up with him and the father still respects that.
The father and mother revealed that because their daughters are open to them, they do not feel the need to discipline them with punishment. Considering that these girls are already 15 years old, they are preparing for adulthood and the mother said that they can only give advice at this point and not impose on anything because they are afraid that they will turn out to be rebellious. The father on the other hand wants to impose discipline by setting rules and grounding them when the rules are not followed like curfew times. There is no history of physical, emotional or psychological violence inside the family.
When asked about recent family crisis, the mother said that the death of her husband was the most tragic she experienced with her children. But she was able to cope with the sudden death of her husband with the help of their relatives and her friends, and also the maturity of her children. For the father, he said that he was lucky that his divorce proceeding with his previous wife was peaceful and the custody battle for their child was also settled in a civil way. He said that during times of crisis or problems it is always important to keep calm and find comfort in the people around. Both the father and the mother rely on their extended family, friends and even mature children for support in times of trouble. Right now, their goal is to be able to help their two daughters finish high school and to find college scholarships to help them earn a degree.
Overall Family Assessment and Diagnosis
Overall, the family is healthy in terms of physical, mental and emotional aspect. Although the members of the family may have their occasional fights but all of them said that they are happy with their living conditions. The children are also comfortable with their respective step parents and they acknowledge the authority of the father inside the house. The family is considered to be a normal family who stresses on some life problems like schoolwork, bills and health. The family can be diagnosed based on the presence of predictable crisis situations. With them being closely bonded, the family is at risk for Interrupted Family Processes if the two daughters will grow older and have new lives in college. Although they may have experienced recent change in family dynamics, having the children leave home may still be difficult to the parents.
In terms for the health needs of the family, the wellness diagnosis will include readiness for enhanced health-seeking behavior. With their good diet and regular check-ups to the doctor, they practice health promotion and prevention. This comes from the mother’s traumatic experience of losing her former husband from a heart attack which came from having unhealthy lifestyle and also history of hypertension in his side of the family. To make sure that she and her children will not face the same fate, she makes sure that they eat healthy and encourage her children to engage in physical activities like sports. She is also making sure that her current husband seeks immediate help when he is experiencing pain. The father is experiencing common pain in the back because of sitting all day at work. He does preventive care by doing check-ups and also doing weekend walks with his wife.
With that, the family is also diagnosed with Readiness for Enhanced Capability for health maintenance/health management (Vera, 2012). Because of being conscious on their health, they want to maintain their current healthy states. The mother revealed that her children were never hospitalized since they were born and only got the common flu during cold season. The father also said that his daughter was also born healthy and she has no medical conditions which keeps her from going to school or doing other activities. They make sure that they take supplements now that they are almost at the senior citizen age. They are also not looking into adding another child in their household because being pregnant at the mother’s age can be risky not only for her but also for the baby.
References
Edelman, C. L., & Mandle, C. L. (2009). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span - Pageburst on VitalSource (7th ed.). London: Elsevier Health Sciences.
Lee, B. (2013, August 16). What Is Family Communication? Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/144390-what-is-family-communication/
Office of Family Science Education, Research and Policy. (n.d.). Family Development Theory. Retrieved from https://parenteducation.unt.edu/online-learning/family-development-theory
Vera, M. (2012, February 10). Family Nursing Care Plan: Assessment & Diagnoses in Family Nursing Practice. Retrieved from http://nurseslabs.com/family-nursing-care-plan-assessment-diagnoses-in-family-nursing-practice/
