The Friedman Family Assessment Model - Coursework Example

? The Friedman Family Assessment Model The Friedman Family Assessment Model Friedman (2003) developed an assessment modelthat helps nurses collect family information that can determine the family’s health. Nurses use open-ended questions to conduct thorough assessments of the family health history, its ability to grow, care for itself, and its contribution to the society. These questions give the interviewee the opportunity to explain and expand their answers. The family represents the primary social group and influences or is influenced by other institutions and people in the society. Each family has culturally related health beliefs and values that influence the family structure, health-seeking behavior, and relationships with health providers. The family acts as a system within a larger social framework, and each family belonging to this framework employs a different approach to health care provision. Every family acts as a support system for its members and transmits fundamental elements of culture to every member (Spector, 2004). Some of these beliefs and structures may provide challenges or barriers to types of health provisions and treatments. The Morrison family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, Luke, Matt, Katie, and Bo. Luke was the eldest followed by Matt, Kate, and Bo was the youngest. The family lived in Crow Lake region in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Morrison worked at a local bank, and the children were in school. Luke had secured a scholarship in the university and had been admitted to study teaching. Matt had excelled in his high school and had secured a slot in the university. Mr. and Mrs. Morrison had gone shopping in preparation for Matt’s admission in the university. On their way back, they were involved in an accident and died. The children were orphaned, and Luke had to decline the scholarship in order to take care of the family. Matt also impregnated Marie, a neighbor’s daughter, and could not join the university. Kate was successful in her education and became a professor at the university in Toronto. FFAM has six assessment categories, but the two most relevant to the Morrison family are family stress, coping, and adaptation and family functions (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003). The two categories are significant due to the stressful conditions subjected to the children after the death of their parents. The children had to look after themselves and received a little help from the neighbors. The family functions were also changed after the tragedy. Luke and Matt became the fathers of Bo and Katie. They work in the fields in order to finance the education of their sisters and meet other family needs. Family Stress, Coping and Adaptation Family stressors, strengths, and perceptions This category is necessary since the death affected their normal living conditions, caused different perceptions, and the children utilized their strengths to counter the stressors. The children have to take care of each other. The demise occurs when they were still young; Luke is 18 years and Bo is still a toddler. The death causes stress among the children, especially Luke and Matt who were left with parenthood responsibilities. The Morrison family has a motto “thou shalt not emote” that helps them counter the effects of the stress (Lawson, 2002). The motto helps Kate suppress her emotions throughout her education, which makes her uninterested in relationships. The death of parents is a leading stress factor in families, especially when children are left without caretakers (Holtslander, 2005). Matt also experiences a setback when Marie becomes pregnant, and her father commits suicide. Matt is forced to take care of her and moves to her father’s house. He has to cope with the stressful condition of taking care of his family and helping Luke look after Kate and Bo. The two brothers are responsible for educating and providing health care to Kate and Bo. The family derives its strength from the decision to stick together, look for jobs, and get help from the neighbors. These factors help the children continue with their education and uphold the Morrison name by excelling in school. Katie perceives Matt a failure when he quits his education in order to take care of his family. This perception affects the relationship between the two, and they cease communicating. The poor conditions in Crow Lake and within the family make Katie stay away from the rest of the family and she feels uncomfortable talking about her family with Daniel. Family coping strategies Family strategies such as the family motto among the Morrison family can help the family cope with grief. The family was required to suppress their emotions as a strategy of coping with grief. After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison, Matt and Luke had taken over as the heads of the family and have had to provide for their younger sisters. Luke gives up his teaching course in order to take care of his sisters. Mr. Morrison was employed at the bank and provided the financial needs for the family. His death left the family strained and insecure financially. Luke and Matt had to take odd jobs with the Pye’s and other neighbors with large fields. The money from the manual labor was not enough to meet the family needs, and Kate was forced to work after school (Lawson, 2002). The financial problems made Matt uncertain of the future, which was a leading cause of stress. Family Adaptation The family as a whole adapts to stressing factors that help the members deal with long term effects of bereavement and economic hardships. The Morrison family adapted to the grief and lack of finances by sticking together, looking for jobs, and making sacrifices. The Morrison family decided to stick together instead of splitting and live with different relatives. This helped them adapt to the difficult conditions after their parents died. This bond continued even after they matured, and each had a family. Matt had to invite Kate for Simon’s eighteenth birthday as a sign of their connectedness as a family (Lawson, 2002). Matt and Katie started visiting the ponds, and he would carry her on his shoulders. This bond helped release the burden and grief within them. The extended family also helped the family transit to life without their parent. The relatives such as Aunt Annie visited the children and kept them company over the holidays. Tracking Stressors, Coping, and Adaptation over Time Hard financial times experienced in the family are the main causes of conflict between Matt and Luke. Kate is able to suppress and adapt to the stress, and she completes her education and becomes a professor. Matt copes with the stress and brings up his family until they are reunited with Kate when Simon is eighteen years old. The adaptation enables Matt, Kate, and Daniel to visit the ponds after the birthday party (Lawson, 2002). Financial hardships were the long term stressors for the family. Luke and Matt had to keep on switching jobs in order to provide for their families while Kate overcame by excelling in her education. Family Functions The family functions are governed by their beliefs and the culture of the society (Rempel, Neufeld and Kushner, 2007). The Morrison family has strong beliefs and values that enable them to take care of each other. This helps them to find all possible means of survival and make sacrifices that help the family get the basic needs and funds for the young sisters to receive education. The motto enabled the family to strive through the difficult times and helped Kate complete her education without falling in love. She was able to suppress her emotions and pain until she became a professor and met Daniel (Lawson, 2002). The family functions expected from the children help them bond and access the basic requirements for healthy living. Luke regularly changes and cleans Bo’s nappies and makes sure Kate has lunch for school. Their neighbors help them get meals by bringing gifts such as honey, pies, pickles, birthday cakes, and perch to their doorstep. The society can help the family perform its function by assisting the needy in the neighborhood. This can involve providing food or giving them paid work. The short version of the FFAM can be used to collect date regarding the Morrison family. A nurse can utilize this model and the novel to collect information about the family structure and functions. Family Functions Affective function Families exist for sexual satisfaction, reproduction, and family love. Affective functions in the family mostly affect the mental health of members, which in turn affect the physical health. Families that show love and affection to their members have few cases of mental problems such as depression and stress (Wright and Leahey, 2009). The Morrison family performs their affective function by sticking together when their parents die and take care of each other. Kate returns to Crow Lake to attend the birthday of Simon after falling out with Matt for several years. Matt carries Kate on his shoulders as they head for the ponds and they spend much of their time together. The affection between Daniel and Kate makes him accompany her to Simon’s birthday party. Marie is quick to notice that Kate is excessively happy when around Matt due to the family bond between them. Auntie Annie, Mr. Morrison’s sister, visits the family and spends the winter season with them. Socialization function Socialization is another family role that helps the young people for the next generation learn the culture, religion, and ethnicity. This helps the young ones become good citizens and cope in the society through education (Yanicki, 2005). This serves as a protective mechanism for the family members against external forces. The social functions, therefore, provide close human contact and strengthen the relations between family members. This is evident in the change of responsibilities and sacrifices made by Luke and Matt when they become orphans. The education attained by Kate helps her secure employment as a professor in the University of Toronto. The differences in social classes between Toronto and Crow Lake make it difficult for Kate to invite Daniel to Simon’s party. Crow Lake is a low class society and Kate feels that Matt has underachieved in his ambitions. Health care function The family meets the health requirements through a healthy diet and frequent medical checkups. A healthy family has a balanced diet, and those in power take care of the young ones in matters such as cleanliness and regular feeding. Kate feeds Bo with a snack when Luke and Mrs. Carrington are discussing her participation in school. Luke has to ensure the family has a healthy meal every day by working on the farm (Lawson, 2002). The neighbors also supplement their healthy meals by giving them honey, peach, hams, and pickles. The care and affection also improved the psychological state of the children. Family health depends on the interactions between family members and availability of basic requirements. Nursing Diagnostics Affective functions Affective functions are important for nursing diagnostics since they determine the closeness and nurturance of a family. Family health is affected by psychological conditions of the family members determined by the closeness between the family members (Schattner, Bronstein and Jellin, 2006). The family needed closeness after bereavement, which was provided by the sacrifices made by the elder brothers. The connectedness helped the children stick together and access basic needs such as food and shelter. Luke became a father figure to Bo while Matt and Kate became inseparable. This connectedness helped them overcome some of the mental pressures caused by poverty and bereavement. The family responded to their needs by providing manual labor in the fields. Affection between Kate and Matt helped her develop interest in zoology due to numerous visits to the ponds. This connectedness was affected when Kate joined the university and wanted to forget her past. She stopped communicating with her brothers since she considered them failures due to their underachievement in Education. Kate wants to forget her past, but Daniel keeps on asking about her parents (Lawson, 2002). She had fallen in love with Daniel and felt the need to invite him over to Crow Lake. Social Functions Social functions are also important in the diagnostics since they determined how Luke and Matt brought up Kate and Bo. They define the responsibilities expected from the parents, the elder brothers, and the neighbors. Social functions are the child-rearing responsibilities that are performed by older family members (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003). Parents are primarily expected to take care of the children and teach them their culture. The community can also assist an orphaned family with child rearing. Morrison’s neighbors bring fruits and gifts to the family so that they can access a healthy meal. The differences in the social class between Toronto make Kate reluctant to invite Daniel to the party. Daniel is happy to accompany Kate, but the deeper they go from Toronto, the more nervous he becomes. The family protects its members economically by providing the financial support. The financial problems experienced by the Morrison family force Kate to forget her siblings and concentrate on education (Lawson, 2002). The economic hardships make Matt afraid of the future, which affects his relationship with Luke. Understanding the social functions of the family can help a nursing practitioner identify the cause of psychological problems among family members. Family Stressors, Strengths, and Perceptions The death of Mr. and Mrs. Morrison caused stress to the children and affected their psychological state. A nursing practitioner can assess how the death affected the children and their perceptions about the incidents that followed after the demise. The family lost their main providers and had to change their living conditions in order to counter the stress. The different decisions taken by Matt and Luke increased the stressing factors for Kate and Bo. At one time, Bo met them fighting and was unable to move due to fear. The greatest strength was the sacrifice made by Luke and Matt (Lawson, 2002). They ensured the family had access the basic requirements and supported their younger sisters. The perception adopted by Kate that Matt was a failure caused stress to Kate, and she became withdrawn. Conclusion The Friedman Family Assessment Model is a simple tool that can be applied to different categories of families. It assists nurses and family members in working together to ensure the successful adaptation of health responses by family members. The model may be used to identify major strengths and weaknesses within a family that influence the health of their members. The collected data helps nurses determine the best response to improve family health. The Morrison family may also be subjected to this model to determine the effect of parental death on the family. The older brothers take over the responsibility of providing for the younger sisters and work hard to ensure they are given basic living requirements and education. These family bonds are instrumental in improving the family’s health and ameliorating any psychological disturbances. Differing family beliefs and expected familial roles determine the existence of the family in the absence of their parents. References Friedman, M., Bowden, V., & Jones, E. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory and practice (5th ed.). Stamford, CT: Appleton & Lange.  Holtslander, L. (2005). Clinical application of the 15-minutefamily interview: Addressing the needs of postpartum families. Journal of Family Nursing, 11, 217–228. Lawson, M. (2002). Crow Lake. Toronto: Vintage Canada Rempel, G. R., Neufeld, A., and Kushner, K. E. (2007). Interactive use of genograms and ecomaps in family care giving research. Journal of Family Nursing, 13, 403–419. Schattner, A., Bronstein, A., and Jellin, N. (2006). Information and shared decision-making are top patients’ priorities. BMC Health Services Research, 6, 21. Spector, R. (2004). Cultural diversity in health and illness (6th ed). Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Health. Wright, L. M., and Leahey, M. (2009). Nurses and families: A guide to family assessment and intervention (5th ed.). Philadelphia: F.A. Davis. Yanicki, S. (2005). Social support and family assets: The per-ceptions of low-income lone- mother families about support from home visitation. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 96, 46–49. Read More