Details:
Select your family or a family of your choice to complete a family assessment.
Before interviewing the family, develop two to three open-minded, family-focused questions
for each of Gordon’s 11 functional health patterns:
- Values, health perception
- Nutrition
- Sleep/Rest
- Elimination
- Activity/Exercise
- Cognitive
- Sensory-Perception
- Self-Perception
- Role Relationship
- Sexuality
- Coping
Your list of questions must be submitted with your assignment as an attachment.
After interviewing the family, compile the data and write a paper (1,000-1,250 words)
analyzing the family assessment. Include the following: - Briefly summarize the findings for each functional health pattern for your family.
- Identify two or more wellness nursing diagnoses based on your family assessment.
Wellness and family nursing diagnoses are different than standard, nursing diagnoses. A
list of wellness and family nursing diagnoses can be found
Family Health Assessment
Introduction
Family health assessment is a useful tool employed in nursing processes to establish
health care plans for both an individual and the family. Edelman & Mandle, (2010) explains that
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a comprehensive evaluation is the framework of promoting family well being (p. 175). This
paper is out to assess a specific family’s views and perceptions concerning their health. The
author employs various questions that are family oriented to address the 11 patterns of health as
explained by Gordon, (2010) in Functional Health.
This paper presents the findings from an interview of Maryland family for the purpose of
nursing diagnosis and wellness. The author evaluated the family’s habits and descriptions are
evaluated for nursing diagnosis and wellness. Although the family in this case is noted to be
highly functional, there are serious health diagnoses that need to be intervened.
Family Overview
The family who took part in this assessment is from Maryland State in United States. The
husband is 45 years while the wife is 38 years. The couple has been married for the last 20 years
with three children. The older one who is a son is 14 years followed by daughter, 11 years and
the last-born son who is barely three months of age. The older son is in high school while the
daughter attends the nearby elementary school. While in school or any other place, the parents
maintain a close tie with their children to ascertain their safety and well-being.
a)Health Assessment
During the assessment, it was noted that the parents did not have a habit of smoking,
drinking or abusing drugs. However, the children were found to be obese, probably due to poor
eating habits. On the other hand, the father had peripheral vascular ailment and was subjected to
FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 3
working extra time to meet the family’s needs. This was partly because the mother had a young
child, which she had to attend to, and therefore, could not work.
There were some elements in the physical phenomena such as nutrition, health
perception, exercise/activity, nutrition and sleep that were found among members of this family.
However, elimination pattern was not considered part of the family. Psychological areas such as
sensory perception, cognitive, self-perception, role relationship and coping were highly
functional in all the family members with the exception of the father. With regard to sexuality,
the parents were noted to be active and had no any health history related to their sexuality.
Family members in this assessment were found to be closely tied. They have a lot to
share especially on the aspect of affection and positive aspects with each other. In spite of the
family encountering economic huddles, they functionally relate to each other well as a family
unity. In the course of the interview, the mother explained that according to her, the family’s
source of strength lie on the physical activities and as well as their spirituality. They were regular
and active members of the Catholic Church. What is interesting is that they are all performers
and dancers. The members expressed that these activities alongside other church related ones,
helped them to suppress any stress or distress, which they encountered.
In my assessment of this family, I noted that family members did not take food that had
balanced nutrition. Children who had high appetitive were fond of taking foods rich on fats. The
mother is the only one who took balanced meal probably because she had a three-month-old
baby whom she was breastfeeding. It was also noted that both the father and mother failed to
have a sound sleep since the mother used to wake up regularly to breastfeed the son. In addition,
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all the family members also used to watch television programs late into the night, thus the reason
why they did not have enough sleep.
In most times, children were forced to abandon their televisions programs in order to
sleep. They could take up to four hours in watching television programs and soap operas. These
made these children to look fatigued in morning hours even before attending their schools. In
spite of breast-feeding being acknowledged as essential to young children, it does not meet all
the nutritional needs of the child. This means that mother’s reliance on breast milk for her
newborn may be generating a risk of lack of nutritional balance to these children. What is
conspicuous with regard to the nutritional aspects for this family is that it is not getting what it
takes with regard to balanced diet. This is exhibited by poor eating habits depicted by fatty foods
among the children and reliance of breast milk for the baby. In addition, disturbance of sleep to
the family members is quit risk to the general well fare and cognitive ability of the family
members. It is high time the family sought counseling from relevance health practitioners on
how to deal with such issues before they generate more health risk to the family.
b) Family Nursing Diagnosis
Performing a family assessment is a demanding but significant step in the care of patient.
It is crucial to recognize the issues and circumstances that hinder a particular family from
practicing sound health behaviors that could enhance their health both at the community and at
home level(US Department of Health and Human Services, 2013). The two family nursing
diagnoses that were deemed appropriate with regard to this family are poor nutrition as noted by
reliance on fatty foods that have led to the children being obese and lack of enough sleep for all
the family members. These were most notable and needs serious medical intervention.
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Open Minded Questions for Functional Health Patterns
- Health Perception
a) Past Health history:
Illnesses: _ peripheral vascular disease, obesity__
Surgery: ______x_________________________________
History of chronic disease____yes______________________________________
Immunization History: _ Tetanus_x__
Pnemonia____x_
Influenza_x___ MMR__x____
Polio x
Hepatitis B x_ b) Use of Tobacco: _ none x-Quit (date<1ppd____1-2ppd___ >2pks/day Pks/yr history__ Alcohol: Amount/type_______x_________________
Frequency of use n/a____________________
Other drugs: Amount/Type: x____________
c) Family’s perception of health: __good fair___x_____poor - NUTRITIONAL/METABOLIC
A) Diet Type and or Restrictions: _ Regular____Lo Salt____Diabetic
Fatty___x________Other Supplements
_b)Ht.__Wt.__x_____________________Weight increase per three months especially in children. c) Appetite____Normal___Increased_x__Decreased___Decreased taste___Food intolerance:
- ELIMINATION
a) Bowel Habits :Most of the family members reported consistency of constipation and stomach problems _____________________________________________
(b). Abdomen: symmetry_____ flat_____ rounded_______ obese x______
the children had obese abdomen
c)Type of Ostomy: self care____x_____ Appliance __ - ACTIVITY/EXERCISE
a)Gait type: normal______abnormaI______x______________
b) Disabilities_____no _x____yes:
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c) Pulse:_____regular _x___irregular______strong _____weak
- SLEEP/REST
a)normal Habits on sleep: 3_hours per night b) Techniques of promoting sleep- bathing___, reading, tv___x__, music,
medication _ - COGNITIVE-PERCEPTUAL
a) Consciousness: level: alert__x_ lethargic___ stuporous______comatose
b) Mood level: euphoric x_pleasant___irritable___calm___happy__
c) Pain: no one currently experiences pain in the family ____
7.SELF PERCEPTION- AND CONCEPT
a)appearance:_ withdrawn______calm_x___anxious____irritable___ restless
b)Anxiety Level : _to some extent ________________
c)Self perception_______________- _ positive ______neutral ___x____somehow negative
- ROLE-RELATIONSHIP
a) Does the family relate with each other __ Yes____x_________No
b)Support System: Husband ____x Both Parents neighbors/friends________none
c)Family: Interaction: close tie - SEXUALITY
a) sexual concerns________none
b) History of sexual transmitted diseases in the family none
c) Use of contraception Yes_____x No_______
Husband _ Wife___x_
10,Coping
a) Basic ways of dealing with stress: _ dancing, acting and performing, invovelement in religious activities ____
b) Illness and Health Concerns: husband is suffering from peripheral condition and children have
obesity problems__________________
c) Stress oversight: There is stress oversight especially in the parents as depicted by the anxiety
on how to meet all their basic needs plus the children’s needs
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11.Values
a)Religious affliation : Catholic x___Protestant Catholic Je
wish Buddhist _Muslim None
b)Existence of concerning on the capability to practice their religious activities:__yes __________No__________x
c)Religious Restrictions_____Not to eat meat during lent period__________________
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Reference
Edelman, C., & Mandle, C. (2010). Health promotion throughout the lifespan. (7th ed.). St.
Louis: Mosby. ISBN 978-0-3230-5662-5
Gordon, M. (2010). Nursing Diagnosis: Process and application.Third Edition. St. Louis:
Mosby, 1994.
US Department of Health and Human Services, (2013). Comprehensive Family Assessment..