Family health assessment involves obtaining a family’s information on the activities or practices they implement to promote health and prevent diseases. The key elements of the family health assessment process are evaluating existing family information, meeting with the family, interviewing family members, performing specialized assessments, and identifying the family needs and circumstances contributing to these needs. Family health assessment also includes making judgments and decisions about necessary services, documenting the information and decision-making with the family, and disseminating the information to the family (Park & Lee, 2020). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the family health assessment findings of a family interviewed in this assignment.
Family Structure
Family Y was interviewed during this assignment. Family Y is an African-American family living in Maricopa County, AZ. It comprises six family members, Mr.Y (husband and father), Mrs.Y (wife and mother), three daughters, and one son. Mr.Y is 62 years, Mrs. Y is 59 years, and the children are aged 35, 32, 28, and 23 years. The family belongs to the lower-middle class income group with an average annual household income of $95, 000. Mr. Y is a retired high school teacher and is currently running a restaurant in his neighborhood. On the other hand, Mrs.Y is a clerical officer working in a government office. The firstborn and second born daughters are married and currently do not live with the family. The third born daughter moved out of the family house two years ago after becoming an advocate. The son is a fourth year university student pursuing Engineering and currently lives with the family. Family Y is a protestant family and attends Sunday church services at least twice a month. Furthermore, they live in a suburban estate in Tempe, Maricopa County, AZ with access to social amenities such as healthcare facilities, schools, shopping malls, and transportation. Every family member has private medical insurance.
Overall Health Behaviors of the Family
Family Y has an overall good health status and has adopted various healthy lifestyle practices to promote health and prevent disease. Mr.Y has positive medical history of controlled Type 2 Diabetes and hypertension, which were diagnosed at 43 years. No other family member has been diagnosed with a chronic illness. Mr.Y adopted several lifestyle practices to prevent the worsening of diabetes and hypertension including cessation to tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption, engaging in regular physical exercises, and limiting consumption of high-caloric foods. Mrs.Y and the children have also adopted some of these lifestyle practices like regular physical exercises and healthy diet since they are aware of the risk of developing lifestyle diseases.
Functional Health Pattern Strengths
The functional health patterns considered as strengths from the family interview are Nutrition and Activity/Exercise. The Nutrition pattern was a strength owing to the adopted healthy eating habits by the family including limited intake of high-caloric foods, processed foods, and carbonated drinks. The family takes regular servings of vegetables and fruits, healthy fats, lean meats, legumes, and nuts. Mr.Y follows the DASH diet to help promote weight loss and control blood pressure (Crone et al., 2021). In addition, the family members consume a minimum off 2l of water per day and have limited alcohol consumption. The family members have no GI issues or discomforts with eating and swallowing and dental problems.
The Activity/Exercise pattern was an area of strength based on the family’s history of engaging in regular physical exercises. The family has subscribed to a local gym and takes part in moderate-high intensity aerobic exercises and muscle strengthening exercises like weight-lifting. In addition, the family engages in regular recreational activities like swimming and hiking, which have significantly improved their fitness levels and cardiovascular endurance (Crone et al., 2021). The family members have sufficient energy for required activities and the ability to carry out all Activities of daily living (ADLs) with no limitations.
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