Description of Family Health - Case Study Example

Running Header:  Family Assessment Insert Your Name Here Subject: Diabetes Mellitus Title:  Family Assessment Date: 2nd November 2010 Introduction A family is a group of people who live in a community and are related together. A family firstly and mostly consists of people who are born and share the same blood. It also consists of people who are married and have children together. This is also known as a family. According to the United nations (1948) definition of a family, the UN states that the family can be defined in several different ways but all in all they sum up to the same meaning. A family nurse plays an important role in the well being of a family as a whole. To be an effective nurse you need to identify the best and most effective way to manage the family using the models that are given. Family nursing should recognize the significance in regards to the health and well being of every individual in the family. The aim of this paper is to discuss issues related to the Family of Khalid, a family who are originally from Saudi Arabia and currently live in Sidney Australia. Description of the family Khalid’s family is a nucleus family which consists of the Father or husband Khalid, the mother or wife who is Moneerah and their two children Nasser and Torky. Khalid is 34 years and his wife Mooneerah is 30 years. Their children, Nasser is 5 years old and Torky is 3 years old. This is an immigrant family who came from Saudi Arabia and immigrated to Australia to study. Khalid is undertaking his studies and intends to attain master in Education. He goes to an Australian university. Major health issues/ Stressors or changes the family is experiencing The major health issue that this family has to contend with is the health issue where Khalid is a diabetic. Diabetes is a family disease which affects the family whose member has been affected in different ways. Diabetes is a disease that has huge continuous illness management responsibilities which rest with both the patients and their family (the international diabetic federation, 2006) and it has the ability to impact on the ability of the family to function properly; it creates stress and affects the coping ability of the members of the family. Family structure and functions It is important for a family nurse to use the best assessment tool for the assessment and interaction with the families which they interact with. An example of a family model assessment which can be used it the Calgary family assessment model commonly known as CFAM. This model use and integrate all the parts of a family hence giving the family nurse a whole picture of the family in question. CFAM deals with different parts of family assessment such as the structural assessment which examines all the aspects of the family structure. The internal structure is a structure which deals with the composition of the family. The gender of the family since gender is a very important aspect of health care in the family especially to a family nurse. The family of Khalid made up of four members that is two male and two females or two adults and two children. The ages range from 34 years old which is the oldest member to the youngest being 3 years old. Khalid’s parent are still in Saudi Arabia and the Father of Khalid whose name is Mohamed is 70 years old. His Mother Norah is 63 years old. Khalid has got four brothers whose age range from 20 to 45 years old and three sisters whose age range from 23 to 42 years old. Moonerah father Nasser is 52 years old and his mother KHadijah is 45 year old she has two brothers aged from 13 to 23 years old and two sisters aged from 17 to 20 years old. This is considered as the extended family of the couple Family relationship and communication patterns Coughlin and Scott termed communication in families as the repeated interaction styles and behaviours. A single family member’s communications behaviour can be patterned over time but most family communications scholars tend to focus on patterns among family members. The family of Khalid has got a strong and understanding emotional communication between the two of them. They are intellectually mature and give each other support since they know that they only have each other in the strange land that they are in and they have to rely and support each other in all aspects. The family of Khalid being an intellectually advanced family who have mastery in intellectual and psychological hardiness this has helped this family cope a lot with the stressors and health issues affecting this family. The children are very well behaved and have great composure. The health needs of each family The only health issue affecting this family is the diabetes mellitus that Khalid is suffering from. Although diabetes is known as a family disease and can be inherited from parents to children, Khalids family are not affected by diabetes. The rest of Khalid’s family are healthy and suffering from no ailment at all. Challenges and strength of this family The challenges affecting this family Is mostly that they have moved into a new environment this is a stressor since they do not have the support of their family as they did before when they were in their countries. They do not have sufficient social support that most people have from members of their family when they are in their original and natural habitat. They have to cope with the issue of moving to a new country and the support they receive might come from strangers who they have met either in the university. This is much more connected with Khalid than his wife. The strength of this family is that they have a sense of high self esteem among the individual members of this family; they have intellectual mastery which is of a higher standard than most people. They also have psychological hardiness which has helped the family to cope with most of the life strains associated with having a member of the family who is diabetic especially it being Khalid who is the head of the family and the sole bread winner of that family. Strategies used by the family to resolve/ address health issues/ stressors or changes Diabetes is a family disease that can also be inherited. Since this is a disease that is a life long commitment with the member of the family affected needing constant care. The family needs to acclimatize themselves with this issue and they also need to start learning different kinds of coping techniques. The most important factor that they all need to do is accept the condition and learns to cope with it and live with it. Learning of coping strategies will help the approach of the family in relationship to the affected member. This relationship should be one of support and love for the affected member hence making him or her feel at ease and loved by the family. This will reduce issues of depression or depressive symptoms in not only the person who is diabetic but also the family members who are supporting the affected person. Depression in any family member can not only harm the member of the family who is depressed but also is harmful to the other members of the family. Social support is also another major strategy for people living with any chronic disease including diabetes and their families. A good social support can enable all the members of a family learn to cope well with diabetes and have the psychological strength needed in different stages of diabetes. A family which has adjusted well and has got a good social support have got much success in coping with diabetes through social support, personal satisfactory resources and a better family adjustment. According to Gerstel and Gallagher, Different coping strategies will help family members to normalize the situation by minimizing the diabetic impact and conveying their feeling of normalcy to the other members (1993). For a family to be able to normalize there is need for the members to express feelings such as pain, fatigue, crying, forgetfulness, diet changes and drug therapies. This should be taken as normal practice done by people from time to time. The only health issue in Khalid’s family is the issue of diabetes. Khalid needs all the care and support that can be offered. His wife also needs the support or rather the social support that she can get being far away from their home and in a foreign country. The Khalid’s family main coping strategies which has made it easier on them is that they have accepted and adapted not only the affliction from Diabetes to the member of the household who is the bread winner, they have also accepted that their new environment and slowly adapting to it. This is evident with the adults speaking fluent English and their children learning to speak English Support system and their usefulness A support system or network is very useful in a sense that it will enable both the family and especially the person who is suffering fro diabetes cope with every day live in a positive way. The family support is very useful since as it was stated earlier in the paper it helps in reduction of depressive symptoms. A strong family support will not only help the person suffering from diabetes but also all the other members of the family in dealing with the fact that a member of the family is suffering from a chronic illness. Support whether socially or family wise is much needed especially with the duration of the illness. When a person is first told that they are diabetic with good enough support they will be able to accept this and continue with their lives but f support is lacking then the person will become depressive and not accept the fact that he or she is suffering from diabetes. The main problem that makes this so harmful is that the relationship of the person who is depressed will become damaged because the other members of the family will actively avoid having anything to do with them due to their irrational mood swings and demands. (Patterson, 1988) this will further contribute to the worsening of the sufferers self image and make the family member feel even more isolated from each other hence intensifying the depression of the family member ( Miller,2000) It is also useful to get support from health care providers and if possible also join a support group that consists of fellow sufferers who will share their experience concerning the disease and how they have handled it or how they are coping with the disease. How their families are coping and what to do when there is an emergency. A support system will be able to help the person cope and lessen the burden and gain much more knowledge of the disease and how to handle it. Demonstrate applications of knowledge developed in part B of this assessment item Communication is very important for a family that is suffering from a chronic illness such as diabetes. With good communication skills a family which has got a sufferer will be able to deal with the disease and will also be able to handle all the issues and emergencies cropping from having a member of the family who is diabetic. There is need for a lot of understanding from member since most sufferers suffer from mood swings at certain time which can be trying to the family. Diabetes can affect a lot of change in a family in a sense that the person who is diabetic will need dietary changes to be made. If the man is diabetic like in the case of Khalid and his wife Moonerah it might cause some issues in their marital life so a spouse needs to be particularly understanding in this matter. The issue of impotency also can affect women who are diabetic. The sexual libido is usually affected due to the fluctuation in the sugar level of the diabetic. This also affects the aforesaid moods hence making the erratic and can change a family’s life. With clear communications the family would be able to understand each other and how to take care of situations as and when they arise. Communications help the family carry out their daily function as a family and as a unit in the family. The family culture is also important in a sense that there is need for involvement process in matter which affects the family as a whole. The whole family are supposed to be involved in issues that affect the family and the person who is suffering from diabetes. Different behaviours are acceptable to the family which has got a member suffering from diabetes but the most important of all these should be flexibility since there are need for certain techniques to be adhered to. If the family is chaotic or rigid then there would be lack of communications which would make the family loose the harmony that they require and the harmonious environment that a person suffering from diabetes would find peaceful and happy or tolerable. Reflection on families Different types of families have got different ways of dealing with their stressors especially issues which are regarding health matters and a member being affected by a chronic disease such as diabetes or any other disease. For a family to effectively deal with this kind of stressor there is need for a lot of understanding and tolerance in the family. With tolerance in the family the various functions of the family will not be affected by such news such as a member suffering from diabetes. The most important aspect of support system should start with the family before it spreads out to other people or other social support group. If a family is well enlightened then they will be able to cope with the disease much more than a less enlightened family would. Channels of communications should also be left open among the members since with this the members of the family will be able to talk through any difficulties. Khalid’s family is a family that is well enlightened, this has enabled them cope as well as can be expected with the disease that a member of the family is suffering from. Conclusion This family needs a stronger social support and ties from both the family nurse and if possible they need to join or form a social support that deals with people who live with diabetes and their family. This will enable them cope effectively with the issues which are related to their health and the issue which are required to form a basis for good social support. Appendix A. family profile The father Khalid, 34 years old Mother Moonerah 30 years old Son Nasser 5 years old Daughter Torky 3 years old Health issues Khalid is suffering from Diabetes Family relationship Good contact with extended family back home in Saudi Arabia Intellectually mature Psychologically strong Positive communication with the family doctor Appendix B- Symbols used in Genogram and Ecomap Male Female Very strong relationship Strong relationship Attachment is available Weak relationship Presence of stressor Source: Wright, L. M., & Leahey, M. (2005). Bibliography Ahmed A, Hussen A, Kheir M and Ahmed N (2001) impact of diabetes mellitus on Sudanese women. Practical diabetes international, Pg 115-118 Couglin P J, Scott M A. family communication patterns, the international encyclopedia of communications retrieved on 2nd November 2010 from http://www.communicationencyclopedia.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405131995_chunk_g978140513199511_ss7-1 Gerstel N., Al-Almae S. and Felimban M (1998) psychological impacts on mothers of Saudia Arabian children in Riyadh. Riyadh: Annual of Saudi Medicine McConell E, Harper R, Cambpell M and Nelson J (2001) Achieving optimal diabetic control in adolescence: the continuing enigma, diabetes/ metabolism research and reviews, pg.67-74 Miller J F. (2000) coping with chronic illness: overcoming powerlessness, 3rd edition. Philadelphia: F A Davis Company Patterson J M. (1988), chronic illness in children and the impact on families, in chronic illness and disability. Newbury Park: Sage publications Read More