Family Health Wellness Behaviors
During this interview process, it became apparent that a once healthy vibrant energy has become dim and saddened by life's circumstances. When we take the eleven health patterns that were assessed during this interview process we can evaluate that most of the answers needed intervention. Many areas were lacking a holistic heath approach to her lifestyle. The interviewee shall be recognized as T.M. within the writings of this paper
The Health Perception
There is a decreased sense of health status as well as the value of heath promotion. Smoking, weight gain, unhealthy eating habits and lack of motivation are key factors to declining heath for T.M. and her family. She posses the desire to get back to her once a healthy lifestyle is in process but she lacks the energy to implement the process. Half the battle is won due to T.M.'s previous healthy lifestyle. She does not need to be taught how to start living a healthier lifestyle she merely needs a jumpstart on motivation (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017).
Nutrition
Being a single parent to three teenagers can finally make it hard to prepare healthy home cooked meals daily for the parent as well as the children. The grab and go concept of fast food as well as ready-made foods /meals at the grocery store are a much easier option for such a stressful home life (Edelman et al., 2017). With all the new options for healthy food delivery such as Blue Apron, Sun Basket or Hello Fresh, there is a big plus in that both T.M and her family enjoy healthy foods. We can eliminate the barrier of choosing healthy foods due to pickiness.
Sleep and Rest
The evaluated four to five hours of sleep per night for T.M. is not adequate for the body to rest and rejuvenate for proper functioning in working hours. Sluggish mental state, as well as the lack of motivation to get up and move around a lot due to being so tired all the time, does not help the body process, metabolize, and eliminate as it should maintain homeostasis (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017). Intervening with small daily mental breaks to try and rejuvenate the mind and body may be necessary. Also, establishing a bed routine can help as well. Going to bed and waking up at the same time has proven success in the restless attempts to achieve better sleeping patterns.
Elimination
Healthy elimination patterns are important for proper and healthy organ function. As stated in the interview, loose frequent stools can be a sign of stress (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017). Stress has a secondary res space of inflammation. Reducing stress is not always an option for busy single working mothers. T.M. feels as though she wants to reduce her stress/anxiety but it's hard to add another thing to her plate to do can add even more stress. A small change in diet, like high fiber and roughage, can potentially help her bowel patterns. Ultimately stress reduction is the main goal however, that is not always easy to do.
Activity and Exercise
T.M. does not express concern for her children's need for exercise as they all play year-long sports and stay fit and active. She, however, has reduced her exercise habits to nothing. Physical fitness was an important daily routine to T.M. ten years ago but has now taken a back seat to her reality she knows as LIFE. T.M. fortunate has a baseline of knowledge to create a physical fitness routine or program but lacks the time or motivation to do so. This can be overwhelming when you have so much to do on a daily basis. Small steps toward achieving an exercise routine can helpful. Trying one day for thirty minutes the first month is a start. Progression is easy when you feel like you achieve a task.
Cognition
T.M. feels that her sluggishness and perhaps lack of sleep is causing impairment in her thinking process. She forgets tasks and items that at one point in her life she would have never forgotten. Creating balance in life-work-parent flow can help reduce some of the stressors that may be causing her to forget things. A clear mind can process, think, and remember much better than a mind that is always tapping into stressful gunshot situations (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017).
Sensory –Perception
A few items are mentioned in the sensory -perception question. Touch was the one that stood out the most. T.M. misses the absence of touch and she proclaimed that she enjoys massages. Also, olfactory perception with the smells of oils in her diffuser was mentioned as well. Touch and smell are neglected in this situation (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017). Advising her to make time for the occasion massage or reflexology appointment would be a good start to initiate change there. Also, since she owns the diffusers for oil, perhaps investing into a few oils that she calms down or energize her to be motivated are great ideas for her sense of smell.
Role Relationship
Single parenting is a tough job for anyone. The internal and external stressors fall burden to one, instead of two people now. The X-husband is a participant in the children's lives but cannot offer financial relief. T.M. role has shifted from Mom to a Mom and Dad type of responsibility. The relationship within the home between T.M. and her children has remained healthy and appropriate (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017).
Sexuality
Safe sex is a healthy form of human living. T.M. compares her sex life today to her sex life a few years ago and she misses the interaction with her former partner. Sex is important to T.M. She agrees that it helps her depression. Research shows that sex can decrease blood pressure, increase endorphins which are helpful for anyone especially those who suffer from depression, increases libido, helps you sleep, so on and so forth. There are many health benefits to safe sex she is missing due to lack of a partner (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017).
Coping
Coping mechanism can be challenging for anyone. Getting over the hard bumps and scrapes in life is a difficult task to achieve. T.M. mentions she lost both of her parents to cancer with two years of one another. Also, there was a disruption in her family unit due to a divorce five years ago. Loss can create a brick wall that's hard to climb. She in aware she lacks the skills to cope as she withdraws from friends and life when she becomes overwhelmed with sadness and stress. She also mentioned her children express the same way by withdrawing. Cognitive behavioral therapy had been initiated for both T.M. and her three children. Learning healthy ways to cope is easy as Implementing the healthy ways to cope with difficult situations (Edelman et al., Personal interview, 6th January, 2017).
The outcome of this interview process was both rewarding and eye-opening. Thinking of three wellness diagnosis for her situation I concluded to these:
Readiness to initiate a better mechanism as evidenced by T.M. remaining compliant with therapy appointments and verbalizing the need to better her coping mechanism with exercise, healthy diet, and becoming more social to prevent withdrawing.
Readiness for enhanced diet and nutrition as evidenced by T.M. adopting 21-day sugar detox diet and participating in a healthy home dealers food service for her meals.
Readiness for enhanced self-image by getting dressed in regular work clothes and applying aesthetic touches to make herself feel motivated and better prepared for her day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we find many ways to deal with life's circumstances. At times it seems easier to take the path of least resistance which in turn is often one that leads to unhealthy habits that effect out life, our good being, and our relationships. Holistic well-being is about nourishing the mind body and soul as one infinite path of health. Dealing off track is common in life, but having the tools to get back on track is what makes the ride so much more fulfilling.
Reference
Edelman, C., Lium, C., Mandle, C., Lynn, C., & Kudzma, E. (2014). Health Promotion Throughout the Life Span Pageburst E-book on Kno Retail Access Card (8th ed.).
