Preserving Family Heritage - Assignment Example

Three Assignments Three Assignments Family trees are an essential constituent of all families as they tell of the family’s lineage and ancestry. When considering families, it is pertinent to also examine the family’s biopsychosocial framework, which holds that all aspects of a person’s life affect his or her life in one way or the other (Carrio, Suchman & Epstein, 2004). This framework calls for a holistic examination of a person’s life with regard to the individual’s medical and psychological trends. Prenatal care is paramount to familial wellbeing as it ensures that pregnant women and they unborn children are health. This paper will examine various concepts such as the family tree, prenatal care and meta-analysis, which allows for the effective study of human participants in a group-based analysis. Family is the backbone of society, therefore, identifying and caring for the family unit are essential tasks in daily living. Assignment 1:  My name is Fahad Saad Alshammari, and I am 30 years of age. I am married to Ghazwaa Muqbil Alshammari. My wife and I have only one child that is a beautiful daughter whose name is Norah. My entire family is originally from the Middle East; Saudi Arabia to be exact. I am the third child in a family of six siblings, which entails four brothers and one sister. My first born sibling is called Bander and is aged 35 years. Bander works as a school teacher and is married with three children that is a girl names Jnan and two boys called Saad and Ali. My second born brother is called Bader and is currently 33 years old. Bader has two children; one daughter called Taleen and a son called Hatham. The fourth born in my family is called Sattam and is 27 years of age. Sattam works as a dentist in a local hospital. Like Bader, Sattam also has two children that is a son called Ammar and a daughter called Fatmia. My sister whose name is Aswak is 23 years of age and works as a teacher for children with special needs. Aswak is currently single concentrating on her career, which is quite noble. My last born sibling is called Faris and is a student. All my other siblings Bander, Bader and Sattam, are all happily married and live with their wives in different parts of the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. My parents are both from Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. My father whose name is Saad Alshammari is 55 years of age and is deployed in the nation’s military service. Being deployed in the military service has been quite adventurous for my father who gets to transverse the country and travelled all over the region as part of his military assignments. My mother, on the other hand, whose name is Norah Farisaljaloud, is 45 years of age, works as a school teacher in a school near our home. My parents moved from Riyadh to settle in the Hail city several years ago. My maternal grandparents whose names are Faris (grandfather) and Bana (grandmother) were blessed with seven children these are three girls and three boys. My mother Norah whose is 45 years old my maternal aunts are Salma who is 40 years of age, Hanan who is 39 years old and Hussah who is 37 years old. My maternal uncles, on the other hand, include 43 year old Sulmain, Saud who is 41 years of age and Hamood who recently attained the age of 33 years. My paternal grandparents are Hadi, my grandfather and Loloah my paternal grandmother. My father has four siblings that is one sister and three brothers. My paternal aunt is called Asma and is aged 50 years. My paternal uncles include 65 year old Saud, Salem who is 60 years of age and Khalid who is currently 48 years old. Both sets of grandparents died a while back. These were very trying, and frustrating times for my family who grieved for months for the loss of my grandparents. The biopsychosocial framework holds that all aspects of a person’s life affect his or her life in one way or the other (Carrio, Suchman & Epstein, 2004). Therefore, the framework requires a holistic examination of a person’s life with regard to the individual’s medical and psychological trends. In the mid 20th century, medical researchers and psychologists noticed a new trend; life expectancy had risen because the likelihood of people’s death from contagious diseases had gone down substantially (Case, 1997). However, the incident of lifestyle diseases such as heart diseases and type II diabetes had increased. My family’s history on a biopsychosocial setting shows some rather fascinating occurrences. Perhaps, one of the most significant events in my family’s history is my parents’ immigration from Riyadh, to settle in Hail city where my siblings and I were brought up and socialized. My father’s work in the military service is also a significant point in my family’s history. This is because the disciplined forces made my father rather strict on matters regarding discipline. This is perhaps why my siblings and I grew up in complete appreciation for rules and discipline, which we have since passed on to our children. The death of both my grandparents greatly affected my family as my parents were left orphaned. Two of my maternal and paternal aunts namely Salma and Asma, respectively suffer from diabetes mellitus, and they both take medication on a regular basis to control their blood sugar levels. My mother, on the other hand, suffers from hypertension, which also requires her to take medications quite regularly. No one in my family takes alcohol, which is quite advantageous considering the family history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus, which disallow alcohol intake. However, my father and I smoke cigarettes. Family Tree As times change, children’s experiences also change. Children in the late 21st century will have experiences that are entirely different from those of children today. Some of these differences include matters regarding marriage. It is highly probable that children in the late 21st century will marry at exceptionally older ages. Compared to yesteryears, the current generation is marrying at a relatively older age than its predecessors (Carrio, Suchman & Epstein, 2004). If this trend continues, marriage age in the late 21st century will be quite high. In addition, in the late 21st century, the then generation shall encompass more entrepreneurs than there are today. This is because shifting trends with regard to the acquisition of education, especially higher education show that more young people are choosing non-university strategies to achieve success. The current creative students are immersing themselves in the competitive business environment after graduating from high school. If this trend continues, by late 21st century, youngsters will be highly entrepreneurial and less focused on seeking education. It is highly probable that the period of childhood will change in the next 50 years. This is because as time goes by, children’s development age becomes lower and lower. Children today mature at an earlier age than those in say, the 19th and 20th centuries (Carrio, Suchman & Epstein, 2004). This change in the period of childhood is primarily as a result of exposure to elements that afford children immense experiences of the environment. In earlier times, especially before the advent of the TV and the Internet, children relied on their caregivers to provide knowledge of the environment, which is innately linked to child development. Technological advances are being made on every other day in the current environment. This allows children to gain knowledge at an early age compared to those in earlier times when technological advancements were minimal. Exposure to the external environment through the media allows children to appreciate the outside world, which, in turn, allows for the children early development. In 50 years’ time, when technological advancements are expected to be at their peak, children will be exposed to the environment at an even earlier age than today’s children. Assignment 2 Prenatal care refers to the frequent medical, as well as nursing care commended for pregnant women. Prenatal care involves intricate preventative care whose goal is to provide regular check-ups, which allow midwives and doctors to prevent and treat prospective problem through the entire course of the pregnancy, while at the same time promoting healthy lifestyles, which are beneficial for both the child, as well as the mother. The essence of prenatal care is to offer pertinent medical information with regard to changes in the psychology of the mother during pregnancy, prenatal nutrition such as prenatal vitamins and information on maternal biological changes. The availability and easy access to routine prenatal medical care have played a significant role in reducing maternal death, miscarriages, low birth weight, child mortality rates and birth defects. The US is one of the most powerful nations globally in terms of resources and economic power. However, in spite of the US’ immense resources, many of its citizens lack access to sufficient healthcare (Wagner, 2007). Of key concern are pregnant women who require specialized prenatal care. Birth statistics reveal the problems, which plague the US healthcare system; for instance, US infant mortality, as well as low birth weight rates is quite high compared to most developed nations. Low-income women are, especially hit by the problem of insufficient healthcare access and available services. Because of the increased neonatal mortality rate, the government has established new services aimed at assisting low-income women access quality health care, especially during delivery. One of the most critical services is midwifery, which has long been provided to pregnant women in nations such as Britain, Germany and Australia. Midwives not only limit medicalization of women in natural birth processes but also effectively counter the problem of physician slack (Wagner, 2007). Midwives provide services such as admitting pregnant women to hospital, attending labor and assisting birth. This means that obstetricians and gynecologists are resigned to serve solely as specialists for intricate pregnancies and births, which make up 10 to 15 percent of all pregnancy cases. Midwives are especially essential to low-income women because the former provide safe, cheap and probably more satisfying experiences than conventional pregnancy specialists. In addition, because low income women are susceptible to feeling powerless because of lacking money for alternative treatment during pregnancy, midwives provide such women emotional support throughout the pregnancy. Furthermore, low income women benefit from emergency departmental care in scenarios where no physicians are on record. Here, emergency departments offer transport to hospitals for low income women who also suffer lack of transport to hospitals for birthing purposes. The community has also established early pregnancy care coordination programs to address the needs of low income pregnant women, while also countering the problems of sociocultural barriers to prenatal care in low income women (Kiely & Kogan, 2000). The US government, through its department of public health services established a number of viable programs for pregnant women, especially the low income earners. One such program is the Presumptive Eligibility (PE) program for pregnant women. However, the catch is that only pregnant women under the Medi-Cal program are eligible (Department of Health Care Services, 2012). PE provides immediate, short-term prenatal care coverage to low income women before the formal application to the Medi-Cal program that offers pregnant women long-term health solutions. PE was primarily established to assist pregnant women whose entire family’s income falls below a certain threshold. However, a pregnant woman can only become eligible for PE if she seeks care through a participating provider who then determines the woman’s eligibility. Under the PE program, eligible, pregnant women receive basic prenatal care that entails ambulatory services, i.e. walk-in prenatal care, as well as prescription medicines for medical conditions and complications related to pregnancy. However, while the PE program is assumedly viable, it is only a temporary Medi-Cal program and thus does not cover core areas such as labor, delivery and inpatient care. It is, therefore, essential that PE applicants also apply for the Medi-Cal program on a well-timed basis. County health departments are able to provide pertinent information regarding PE and Medi-Cal (Kiely & Kogan, 2000). Through such county health departments, expectant mothers can access information such as PE providers. The federal government funds the PE and Medi-Cal programs through joint funding modules in which patients contribute to the program and when such patients require medical services, they only submit the Medi-Cal card in exchange for services. The US through state insurance companies compensates health care providers for the provision of medical services to card holders. Such a third-party payment plan is the epitome of the American health care programs. Medi-Cal is a form of managed health care plan that pools funds from different contributors to provide health care services to patients on a necessity basis. By the conclusion of April 2012, nearly more than 4,859,378 women were enrolled to the Medi-Cal program for the provision of prenatal, delivery and birthing services by recommended medical service providers. This is a significant rise compared to April 2010 enrollee quantities of 3,950,891 (Department of Health Care Services, 2007). Currently, the Medi-Cal program does not entail any form of waiting list as enrollees are provided managed care incentives depending on their enrollment. This means that enrollees receive medical coverage immediately after all paper work is processed and the individual’s eligibility is determined. Because the program is backed by the government, it guarantees enrollees of minimal risks of monetary loss. In addition, being a managed care program Medi-Cal allows enrollees to receive medical care services without paying for such services directly from their pockets. The government through health stakeholders assures health care service providers of payments after such health care providers offer medical services to patients who are also enrollees of the program. Prenatal care is recognized as one of the most critical cornerstones of the US health care system since the start of the 20th century. In the first decade of this century, Mrs. William Putman launched prenatal services at the Boston Lying-In hospital where pregnant women visited after every 10 days are prescribed during self-care. Women have since then been undergoing prenatal care during pregnancy to ensure they remain healthy and achieve the same for the unborn baby. Whitbridge Williams, in the year 1915, asserted that conditions such as preterm birth, toxemia and dystocia could be deterred through the inclusion of prenatal care in instructions for pregnant women. However, some women are unable to access prenatal care because of reasons such as inability to find willing physicians, which accounts for 64% of pregnant women, especially low income earners. Transportation problems also deny 71% of women ability to receive prenatal care (Kiely & Kogan, 2000). Studies show a distinct correlation between child outcomes and the use of prenatal care during pregnancy. Adequate prenatal care improves birth weights and reduces preterm deliveries substantially. Inadequate use of prenatal care, on the other hand, is linked to the incident of risks like preterm babies, infant and neonatal mortality and low birth weights. The US infant mortality rate estimates for the year 2012 is 5.98 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is a significant decline compared to the 2005-2010 figures of 6.81 deaths per 1,000 live births (Department of Health Care Services, 2012). This is indicative that prenatal care is gaining popularity among American mothers. In the state of Orleans, on the other hand, infant mortality rate figures stand at 5.4 deaths out of 1000 live births. In conclusion, prenatal care is an integral constituent of health care for pregnant women, and should be afforded to all pregnant women to ensure their health, as well as that of the unborn child. While the government, and other health stakeholders appreciate the importance of prenatal care, sufficient efforts has not been initiated to ensure all pregnant women access adequate prenatal care. The government should, therefore, establish relevant programs to facilitate prenatal care from the earliest stage of pregnancy (Wagner, 2007). Community efforts, though commendable, are insufficient in ensuring all pregnant women have access to prenatal care. Midwifery programs are viable in enhancing prenatal care by supporting pregnant women and caring for them during delivery and birth. It is, therefore, undeniable that prenatal care has immeasurable merits. Pregnant women should thus be educated on the importance of going for prenatal care and informed on the essence of enrolling for managed care programs that provide benefits such as prenatal, delivery and birthing (Kiely & Kogan, 2000). Assignment 3 Meta-analysis A meta-analysis is a method in which situations in the studies, more readily than whole studies or human participants constitute the group of analysis. Meta-analysis allows for the maximum use of all the data gathered in a review that has been done systematically by mounting the strength of the analysis (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). By statistically putting together the outcomes of studies that are similar, the precisions of estimates can be developed and evaluate whether there are similar effects in similar situations. In this analysis, section of young children in a situation which verified the intended behavior proper false-belief judgments against errors-was utilized as the dependent variable. A meta-analysis of such information is particularly direct; most of the statistical troubles that come up for other kinds of meta-analyses. This requires the altering and failing of a range of inferential statistics that are derived. In addition, a meta-analysis involves coding. Each condition incorporated in the analyses is coded for the variable that is dependent and a wide range of variables comprising of independent variables. At the center of meta-analysis, is the systematic review methodology. This emphasizes the necessity to be cautious to acquire all the studies that are relevant, and the practical eminence of the design and the carrying out of every study. Purpose of meta-analysis The basic function of a meta-analysis is to provide similar methodological accuracy to a literature review acquired from experimental research. This meta-analysis was carried out to deal with the controversies of theories and inconsistencies in experiments (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). When structured into an organized set of aspect s that differs transversely in studies, false- belief consequences group systematically with the omission of only a small number of outliers. A collective model that incorporated country, age, and four activity factors produced 55% of the difference in performance of false-belief. Furthermore, the performance of false belief showed a consistent pattern of development, even in different countries and different manipulation of tasks: children who have not begun school move from below-chance performance to performance of above chance. The meta-analysis helps to integrate the different findings in the various studies that were undertaken. Factors that influence children’s performance on the false-belief task  The four factors include: motive, salience, participation, and real presence. Country was also used as a non-task factor. Additionally, Country also comprised things that increased performance of children. The evaluation was aimed at observing if the putting together of things that enhance tasks would make young children have above channel level systematic performance. It is also necessary to establish the models when put together will significantly predict the false –belief patterns of the children (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). Testing many factors in one model is essential because the important influence of a sole factor may disappear if the other factors are controlled. Combined models on the basic conditions were tested because the prediction of regression was clearer for the primary conditions than set that was collective. The first paradigm to be tested consisted of every variable that notably facilitated the performance of young children in their analyses that was two-way-motive, country, participation, real presence, age and salience (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). These factors made up 55% of the discrepancy in the right false-beliefs of the children. In another model that was tested, country was excluded because it was not under control of the experiment. All the factors save for independent and significant made a contribution to the whole prediction. This model was used to examine three predicted sets of effects. When values of all variables were enhanced to the utmost, the “best-effects” choice display performances were predicted. For that reason, for motive, the model of best effects was established on the basis of framing the change in terms of the definite dishonesty of character; for salience, the model focuses on precisely picturing or stating the mental constitution of the character. For the real presence, it described the lack of object at the child’s judgment time. Developmental changes found in children’s performance on the false-belief task In the study, the basic finding was that there is an immense effect for age in all analysis. An increase in age signifies an increase in significant, correct, performance; in a number of cases, correct performance grows from chance to above chance. Findings such as these visibly concur with prior claims of considerable development for the duration before schooling, and are at odds with current suggestions that change in development does not exist or is restricted only to a few activities that are more often than not demanding. Their false-belief judgment are analytically not related to such undertaking differences increases the possibility that the judgment of the children indicate deep seated, full-bodied commencement of actions of human beings action, instead of duty-specific reactions caused by outstanding characteristics of a set of questions or materials. Conceptual change argues that changes in development in performing false belief tasks show real changes in children’s understanding of individuals. A different explanation sides with early competence, meaning, young children have the required understanding; their inadequate ability to perform tasks show needlessly difficult tasks, limits of processing information, or questions that are confusing. Explanations on early competence compel that there be a version of the intended task that shows improved performance by children, when there has been an elimination or limitation of the task. Conceptual change explanations also have need of empirical findings that are specific. The task should reasonably evaluate a target conceptual comprehension, and carrying out of the task should adjust from wrong to steadily above-chance judgment with time (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). Right judgment on control questions or activities that exhibit memory for pertinent information and comprehension of the layout of a task should increase confidence in both poor and superior performance. Cross-cultural differences in the findings There were cross-cultural differences between children from different countries. The performance of the young children is influenced by the country they originate. Figure 7, which indicate the lines representing the seven countries where there were a total of six or more conditions, indicates that, at a given age, young children from different countries can do better or worse than their counterpart. Nevertheless, children in every country show evidence of similar developmental line. Conditions of the largest sample comprise of children in United Kingdom and the United States (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). Using the United Kingdom and United States as baseline, children in Korea have similar performance; there is better performance for those in Canada and Australia and those in Japan and Austria are the worst performers. There is a representation of extremes in Table 2 showing the values of effect size. Children with 44 months old in the United States are 50% right, in Australia it 60% and 40% correct in Japan. Researcher’s conclusions The existing meta-analysis organizes the findings that are accessible on the understanding of false belief. It is evident that when extensive studies are systematically organized, then the results are logical and objective. Various competing explanation of false-belief performance can be assessed after the clarification of the research findings. An example of such account that which claims that the development in ages 3 to 5years are mainly the results of highly difficult activities disguising children’s fundamentally right understanding of certainty are not demonstrated in various fundamental concerns (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). Despite children’s acquisition of various conceptions in the early periods of life or later depending on the place of upbringing, all of them gain insights on a development course that is in one way or another similar. The results gained from the study provide information on various task disparities that are, in fact, the same. This allows researchers to use an undertaking as an example, reason being it is for them to control than others or because it is most appropriate for the purpose of their theories. Moreover, the results from the meta-analysis indicate that there are some tasks which develop the performance of children. Consequently, when a difference in task improves performance, such as, from chance to above-chance or from below-chance to chance levels, there can be two ways of understanding this growth in performance (Wellman, Cross & Watson, 2001). The influence may have resulted in a greater, more responsive test of children’s comprehension or it may have caused an extremely straightforward duty that is susceptible to positives that are false. False-belief researches practically give a strong measure of the early development importance. Nonetheless, caution should be exercised when conducting meta-analysis. References Case, P. A. (1997). How to Write Your Autobiography: Preserving Your Family Heritage. California: Woodbridge Press Publishing Company. Carrio, F. B., Suchman, A. L. & Epstein, R. M. (2004). The Biopsychosocial Model 25 Years Later: Principles, Practice, and Scientific Inquiry. Annals of Family Medicine 2(6): 576–582. Kiely, J. L. & Kogan, M. D. (2000). “Prenatal Care”. Reproductive Health of Women. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/ProductsPubs/DatatoAction/pdf/rhow8.pdf US Department of Health Care Services. (2012).Medi-Cal Managed Care Enrollment Reports. Retrieved 12 January 2012, from http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/dataandstats/reports/Pages/MMCDMonthlyEnrollment.aspx Wagner, M. (2007). Born in the USA: How a broken Maternity system must be fixed to put women and children first. Berkeley: University of California Press. Wellman, H. M., Cross, D. & Watson, J. (2001). “Meta-Analysis of theory of mind development: The truth about false belief,” Child Development 72 (3):655-6. Read More