Why is the concept of family health important? Consider the various strategies for health promotion. How does a nurse determine which strategy would best enable the targeted individuals to gain more control over, and improve, their health? 

Why is the concept of family health important? Consider the various strategies for health promotion. How does a nurse determine which strategy would best enable the targeted individuals to gain more control over, and improve, their health? 

Introduction

The concept is crucial since it facilitates attainment of health promotion goals. For
instance, family health helps ensure supportive care environment and improve personal skills
that contribute to better healthy behaviors (Parsons, Pender & Murdaugh, 2011). Secondly, most
family members share genetic makeup which is a stronger predictor of risk factor to certain
diseases. The concept of family health is important since the surrounding environment affects the
health of an individual (Piper, 2009). Family members share risk factors due to shared social
characteristics such as shared housing, neighborhood, and culture. In this case, family health
concept helps in controlling an outbreak of a pandemic or other contagious disease. Likewise, a
family shares the risks of poor health and costs as well as the protection offered by the financial
resources (Piper, 2009).
The concept is critical since all members are exposed to similar lifestyles like similarity
in dietary behaviors and healthy-related lifestyles like physical fitness (Parsons, Pender &
Murdaugh, 2011). The best strategy is to have individualized health promotion plans that cater
for the family attributes in achieving individual health goals. Secondly, a nurse can enable an
individual gain more control over his or her health by encouraging family support and nurturing
positive health change that contribute to maturation of all family members (Piper, 2009). A third
strategy is to encourage spiritual wellbeing and foster active participation in health problem due
to well developed problem-solving skills. A nurse should assess a disease risk based on family
history and relevant risk factors like diet and genetics (Parsons, Pender & Murdaugh, 2011).
A nurse determines the strategy which best enable the targeted individuals to gain more
control, and improve, their health by conducting a family health assessment (Piper, 2009). A
nurse should conduct a structural assessment to determine the sexual orientation, birth order, and
emotional bonds that exist between the individual and the rest of the family (Parsons, Pender &
Murdaugh, 2011). A nurse should evaluate the individual’s daily activities, roles, and problem-
solving strengths in order to ascertain the health beliefs and expected response to health issues
during health promotion (Piper, 2009).

References:

Parsons, M., Pender, N & Murdaugh, C. (2011). Health promotion in nursing practice. London:
Pearson Education.
Piper, S. (2009). Health promotion for nurses: Theory and Practice. New York: Routledge.