FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT
"Family" is defined as a unit/group as a system of the OR operation of individuals, i.e., living people, having the recognition of belonging by other constituent member(s). Family health care nursing is "The practical science of preventative and remedial support to the family in order to help the family system unit independently and autonomously maintain and improve its family functions" ( Naohiro Hohashi, 2013). In this system of nursing, care is family-centered, which means, focusing on the whole family and not just a single person. An open and developing system of interacting personalities with structure and process enacted in relationships among the individual ...view middle of the document...
The parents are staying with their elder daughter with her husband and two children. Younger daughter is married and settled in the nearest city. The daughter is a nurse by profession and her parents were engineers, and now enjoying the retirement life.
After getting enough data about the family the student moved to next section of the interview. Then the interviewer asked about their perceptions regarding health. The question was about their last physical health check-up by the physician. From their answer, it is evident that they are very particular about their health and keep up a positive perception. Every 3 months they do their physician office unless there are no signs and symptoms of any serious illness. Father is a diabetic and hypertensive patient and also a cardiac patient. He knows well about his condition and very strict in diet control and on regular medications. His wife is an obese lady and has an increased cholesterol level in their blood. She is very particular about exercise and food control. She also underwent a thyroidectomy surgery last year. He used to take dinner with one glass of moderate wine and stopped smoking after detecting these diseases.
The next question related to health was “Which are the medicines you take daily?” They showed all the prescriptions and medicines, which includes Metoprolol (hypertention), Metformin (diabetes mellitus), and Lipitor ( cholesterol). They are compliant with all the medication. The next question asked by the student was about the presence of these diseases in their previous generation. He replied that his father also had the same diseases like diabetes from very younger age, cholesterol and hypertension. The mother said that, her parents were lean and her mother underwent a surgery for breast cancer at the age of 52. When the student asked about their exercise schedule, they said that, they walk regularly for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Next section of the interview was about the nutrition and metabolism, body mass index of mother was high and BMI of father was comparatively normal according to their body weight. Then, the question was “What do you mean by healthy food?” They answered that they are very conscious about the balanced diet and always try to include healthy food items in their meals like fruits, cereals vegetables and sugar-free and cholesterol-free foods. They prefer salads and soups in their dinner. They usually drink 1-2 liters of fluids per day including water and juices. But in some special occasions they ignore diet control.
In elimination pattern, the first question was “Do you have regular pattern of elimination?” and the next question was “Do you take any stool softeners or water pills for their proper elimination?” Father is using stool softeners daily because he has constipation and also frequency of urination. The bladder and bowel pattern of mother is normal. Both of them do colonoscopy during their physicals.
When asking about exercise or activity...
