[ANSWERED 2023] Select a family other than your own and seek permission from the family to conduct an interview. Utilize the interview questions complied in your interview questionnaire to conduct a family-focused functional assessment

Written By: Dan Palmer, RN

Edited By: Ethan Green, MSN-FNP

Select a family other than your own and seek permission from the family to conduct an interview. Utilize the interview questions complied in your interview questionnaire

Understanding family structure and style is essential to patient and family care. Conducting a family interview and needs assessment gathers information to identify strengths, as well as potential barriers to health. This information ultimately helps develop family-centered strategies for support and guidance.

This family health assessment is a two-part assignment. The information you gather in this initial assignment will be utilized for the second assignment in Topic 3.

Develop an interview questionnaire to be used in a family-focused functional assessment. The questionnaire must include three open-ended, family-focused questions to assess functional health patterns for each of the following:

Values/Health Perception
Nutrition
Sleep/Rest
Elimination
Activity/Exercise
Cognitive
Sensory-Perception
Self-Perception
Role Relationship
Sexuality
Coping

Select a family other than your own and seek permission from the family to conduct an interview. Utilize the interview questions complied in your interview questionnaire to conduct a family-focused functional assessment. Document the responses as you conduct the interview.

Upon completion of the interview, write a 750-1,000-word paper. Analyze your assessment findings. Submit your questionnaire as an appendix with your assignment.

Include the following in your paper:

Describe the family structure. Include individuals and any relevant attributes defining the family composition, race/ethnicity, social class, spirituality, and environment.
Summarize the overall health behaviors of the family. Describe the current health of the family.
Based on your findings, describe at least two of the functional health pattern strengths noted in the findings. Discuss three areas in which health problems or barriers to health were identified.
Describe how family systems theory can be applied to solicit changes in family members that, in turn, initiate positive changes to the overall family functions over time.

Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria.

Expert Answer and Explanation

Family Health Assessment

When working with patients, providers have to involve the patients’ family members because they offer support needed for the patient recovery. They not only make decisions, but they provide emotional support which the patient needs as they go through the illness-health process. Rather than treat a single patient, providers may instead focus on managing the health needs of the entire family unit.

In this case, they perform family health assessment to determine the family’s health needs. These assessment is intended to explore various aspects of the health needs including health behaviors, and administer care that meets these needs (Goergen et al., 2016). It is imperative to examine such an assessment, and apply the Family Systems Theory (FST) to bring change in a selected family.

Family Structure

The family selected for the interview comprises of a couple, their three children, and a paternal grandmother. The children are all female with the eldest one being aged 12 years, the younger one being aged 9 years while the other is aged 5 years. The grandmother who is 66 years old widow no longer works, and because there was no one to look after her, she came to live with the family. The couple is doing well career-wise considering that the father is a practicing lawyer while the mother is a medical doctor (Goergen et al., 2016).

The Family Health Behaviors

The family, during the interview, answered assessment questions including questions related to the health perceptions. According to the family, they have never had any major health event. However, the grandmother has a history of smoking, and she has hypertension, and she tend to experience abnormal heart rhythms. None of the other members of the family use behavior-altering substances, and the parents practice good health behaviors (Goergen et al., 2016).

When asked about diet, the couple stated that they are aware of the role diet plays in helping improve individuals’ health. Thus, they eat balanced diet, and they prefer home-made food over the food prepared in fast-food stores. The family also prefer to buy organic food products because they are healthy (Richards et al., 2018).

The couple, still, did respond to the questions concerning the amount of hours they sleep. While the children go to bed early, and sleep for more than 8 hours a day, the couple sleep for not more than 7 hours. They stated that their busy work schedules leaves them with limited time to have enough sleep.

The grandparent has a problem with elimination considering that she urinates more frequently, than she used to do. However, no any other individual has experienced elimination issues apart from the few cases of diarrhea in the family (Dorell et al., 2017).

The family is serious about maintaining healthy lifestyle, and the parents engage in fitness activities in their respective workplaces. The children are taking swimming lessons, and they therefore swim on weekends (Khatiban, Tohidi, & Shahdoust, 2019).

The family maintained that they are cognitively aware, and they can logically think, and get to know their environment.

The senses of everyone in the family are sound, and no one in the family requires hearing aid or eye glasses. No member has anosmia either.

The couple has healthy sex lifestyle, and they are able to effectively deal with the marital issues. However, they have not had any serious marital issue. Besides, they can effectively cope with challenges (Khatiban et al., 2019).

Strengths linked to Functional Health Patterns

The family exhibits strengths when it comes to the way it handles health issues. The fact that the couple participates in workplace-based physical activities, and eats healthy meals, shows that the family can continue adopting behaviors which promote health. Because the children are active, their risk of developing health conditions is slim.

However, the grandparent is hypertensive, and this is the main concern for the couple because they feel that her condition may worsen to the level where she may require admission into the hospital. This fear can result to stress which can emotionally and psychologically affect the family American (Cancer Society, 2017).

Application of Family Systems Theory

The use of the FST in the case can help solicit for the change of the behaviors which may affect the health of the family. The FST maintains that one’s habits in a family unit can influence the habits of other members. Considering that the grandparent smokes, and does not exercise, there is a possibility that other members may adopt these behaviors. The children may equally develop the habit of sleeping late. Therefore, all the members of the family should have adequate sleep, and maintain the habit of exercising.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the family health assessment involves exploring the different aspects of the family health habits including their diet. This assessment is important in the sense that it helps a healthcare professional to understand the patient’s needs in detail so that they can incorporate the needs of the family in the health care plan. When working with families, providers need to use theoretical frameworks such as the FST. Looking at patients’ issues based on these frameworks can lead to greater understanding of the health risks in the family, and help providers mitigate these risks.

References

American Cancer Society (2017). Health Risks of Smoking Tobacco. Retrieved on 11/23/2017 from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/tobacco-and-cancer/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco.html.

Dorell, Å., Isaksson, U., Östlund, U., & Sundin, K. (2017). Family Health Conversations have Positive Outcomes on Families – A Mixed Method Research Study. The open nursing journal, 11, 14–25. Doi: https://doi.org/10.2174/1874434601711010014.

Goergen, A. F., Ashida, S., Skapinsky, K., de Heer, H. D., Wilkinson, A. V., & Koehly, L. M. (2016). What You Don’t Know: Improving Family Health History Knowledge among Multigenerational Families of Mexican Origin. Public health genomics, 19(2), 93–101. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1159/000443473.

Khatiban, M., Tohidi, S., & Shahdoust, M. (2019). The effects of applying an assessment form based on the health functional patterns on nursing student’s attitude and skills in developing the nursing process. International journal of nursing sciences, 6(3), 329–333. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnss.2019.06.004.

Richards, D. A., Hilli, A., Pentecost, C., Goodwin, V. A., & Frost, J. (2018). Fundamental nursing care: A systematic review of the evidence on the effect of nursing care interventions for nutrition, elimination, mobility and hygiene. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(11-12), 2179–2188. Doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14150.

Alternative Answer and Explanation

Family Health Assessment

When defining health, one can define it in various ways, and consider it as a state in which one is not ill. Health takes different dimensions including the status of one’s emotions, and mental and physical wellbeing. Every culture values health, and some cultures adopt certain practices to promote health. Incest is wrong in various cultures, and these cultures encourage their members to marry outside the family cycles as a means of limiting the risks of genetic defects (Dorell et al., 2017). Given the roles the family plays in propagating cultural values, providers need to assess families’ health patterns, and intervene to promote the wellbeing of these families as explained in this study.

Family Structure

The family selected for the interview is a Caucasian family friend. The family comprises a grandparents, a couple in their 4os, and their three biological daughters aged 11, 14 and 18. The family attends a local church, and they have been members of this church for more than five years. The couple together with their children, and the grandparents to their children, live in a rental house in Tulsa Oklahoma, and the father works as an auditor with a reputable firm.

Conversely, the mother works as a nurse in a nearby medical facility while their children attend local schools. The grandparents retired from active employment three years ago, and while the grandfather is aged 70 years, the grandmother’s age is 68 years. The family gets to visit their neighbors and friends.

The Health behaviors of the Family

During the interview, the family responded to questions regarding its health behaviors, and they particularly provided views concerning their health perceptions. The family states that although the children and the parents were healthy, the grandfather has diabetes while the grandmother has joint weakness. However, the family is committed to practicing good health behaviors to prevent diseases (Goergen et al., 2016).

Concerning nutrition, the interviewees mentioned that they take the issue of diet seriously. They stated that they look at the nutritional content of the food when making decisions pertaining to the kind of food they want to purchase.

Regarding the sleep, the family on average, sleeps seven hours every day. The parents attributed this to their busy work schedule, and the fact that their children spend too much time using the social media. The children also stay awake watching television for long hours (Lauritzen, Kolmannskog, & Iversen, 2018).

When asked about the elimination, the family stated that no member of the family is experiencing any bowel movement issue. Although none has had diarrhea or constipation for the last two months, the eldest daughter stated that she experienced an increase in the frequency with which she urinates.

When asked whether they were exercising, the family reported swimming as their main preferred physical activity. They stated that they swim on a weekly basis. However, the family mentioned that they play tennis once is a while.

Relating to the cognitive awareness, the interviewees reported ability of each family member to cognitively think and reason. The family stated that they were able to learn and internalize whatever happens in their surroundings.

According to the family, all members but the last girl had all their senses working effectively and well. The younger child, as the family mentioned, had eyesight issues, and this explains the reason why she wore glasses.

Despite the minor issues, the family is satisfied with their health status, and they seem to be having optimism. The marriage, as the interviewees stated, is healthy, and the couple communicate openly, and this is one of the things that keeps them going. The family has had no incident of sexual dysfunction, and although they experience stress, they deal with adverse emotions by sharing their concerns with friends.

Functional Health Patterns Strengths

Regarding the family’s functional health patterns, the family seems to be having strengths in this area. For instance, members swim on a weekly basis, and they go for evening walks three times a week. They include fruits and vegetables into their daily meal, and they drink the recommended volume of water in a day.

However, the family experiences stress especially when the grandparents are sick. Because the daughters do not get adequate sleep, this may affect their cognitive wellbeing (Zhang, 2018). For the grandparents, the joint pain and elevated sugar levels constitute the health concerns.

Family Systems Theory Application

The use of the theory such as the family systems theory (FST) can be effective in soliciting for change in the family. According to this theoretical framework, a member of a family can influence the behaviors of members of the same family if they behave in a certain manner. Using this theory, an interventionist would encourage a member of the family such as one of the parents to start morning jogs. If the parent starts going for the morning jogs, the other partner and their daughters may start going for the morning jogs (Ginsburg, Wu, & Orlando, 2019).

Conclusion

In overview, the family health is dynamic, and it may change depending on the family situation. When a member of the family becomes ill, this may affect the health of other members. This underscores the need to assess the health needs of the family, and administer an intervention that meets the health needs of the family. The use of theories such as the FST can guide the intervention decisions, and optimize these decisions.

References

Ginsburg, G. S., Wu, R. R., & Orlando, L. A. (2019). Family health history: underused for actionable risk assessment. Lancet (London, England), 394(10198), 596–603. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31275-9.

Lauritzen, C., Kolmannskog, A. B., & Iversen, A. C. (2018). Family assessment conversations as a tool to support families affected by parental mental illness: a retrospective review of electronic patient journals. International journal of mental health systems, 12, 18.Doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13033-018-0199-x.

Zhang Y. (2018). Family functioning in the context of an adult family member with illness: A concept analysis. Journal of clinical nursing, 27(15-16), 3205–3224.Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.14500.

Appendix

Questions	Answers (To be answered by interviewee)
How would you describe the status of your health perception?	I would say we are generally a healthy family. However, the grandparents, due to their age, are experiencing health issues including joint weakness, and diabetes.
Do you consider nutrition when making decisions pertaining to the kind of food you want to eat?	Yes. The family takes seriously the issue of nutrition. Our meals must include vegetables and fruits.
How many hours do you get to sleep or rest?	7 hours on average.
Do you experience any elimination problems?	No member of the family is having problems with their bowel movement.
Do you engage in any physical activity, and how often?	Yes. We do swim once in a week.
How would you describe your cognitive health status?	We are cognitively aware, and none of us have had any event in which we experienced challenges with our cognitive health.
Do you have any sensory perception issue? If yes, what kind of issue it?	While our younger daughter is having eyesight issues, everyone’s senses are working properly.
Can you tell whether your behaviors are right or wrong?	I can tell whether something that I do constitutes undesirable act or behavior.
Is your marriage working, and do you have any relationship issues in the family?	We don’t have any relationship issue in the family.
As a couple, have you ever experienced any sex problems such as sexual dysfunction?	None of us has experienced an issue with our sex life.
Do you cope effectively with the disease?	When one of us becomes ill, we become emotional. However, we can effectively deal with stress.