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Family Health Assessment

Family assessment involves gathering and analyzing information obtained from a family
with the goal of helping it to establish and implement preventive measures for better health
outcome (Harkness & DeMarco, 2016). The assessment establishes not just health problems of
the family but also behavioral patterns that either aid or hinder good family health (Kaakinen et
al., 2018). Information for the paper was obtained through interview of a nuclear family
consisting of a father, mother, and three children, a teenage girl aged 17 and twin boys aged 3.
The family is Hispanic and are staunch Catholics. The man is an engineer and the wife is a stay-
at-home mum. The teenage girl is in high school and the twin boys are yet to start school.
Interview questions were conducted based Gordon’s 11 functional health patterns.
On the family’s values/ health, the family identified as staunch Catholics who never miss
mass on Sundays. They also pray together daily. Their values are shaped not just by their religion
but also by the Hispanic heritage and modern American values. For instance, they value
education and believe in parents disciplining children and gender equality. They believe that
children should be brought up to obey their parents and other elderly members of the society.
They also take their health seriously as they go for regular medical checks and have health
insurance for all family members.
On nutrition, they take three meals a day and their diet is well-balanced. Their meals
mainly consist of vegetables, meat and rice. They also take large quantities of fruits. Such is the
family’s sensitivity to the nutritional value of the food they take that they often check out the
nutritional quality of all the foods that they buy at the grocery store. Their fluid intake consist
mainly of water and tea. They occasionally snack and never take foods from fast food joints.

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Regarding sleep/rest, everyone in the family enjoys a good night’s sleep averaging eight
hours except the teenage daughter. They have an alarm clock that rings at 10 p.m. for bedtime
and 6 a.m. for waking up. Everyone follows this time stipulations except the teenage daughter
who regularly spends a lot of time on her smartphone chatting with friends. Due to this chats she
gets less than five hours of sleep daily. Even though she generally has a good night’s sleep, the
mother reported that she sometimes experiences sleep problems any time her husband has
financial problems or when they have disagreements.
On elimination, there were no reported issues. All family members had normal bowel
movements and urination. The mother and three kids had bowel movements once each day. The
man, however, experienced such movements around three times each day. This higher frequency
could be due to his higher intake of fluids. The young twins were on toilet training. Generally,
they had enough sufficient water in the house to cater for their elimination needs.
As for exercise/activity, the family likes engaging in activities for fun. They watch
movies and read books together. The children are generally physically active with the teenage
girl being a member of her school’s soccer team. The mother jogs daily to keep fit. The man too
values physical exercise as he has a gym membership card. He visits the gym three times each
week.
Regarding cognitive perceptions of the family, all members recorded good memory
except the mother who reported being forgetful. Except for the two small boys, the remaining
family members can all comfortably read and write in English.
On sensory-perception, all members of the family have excellent vision except the father
who is shortsighted. He, therefore, uses glasses. They have annual eye checks to make sure that

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everything is fine. The teenage daughter, however, has a hearing problem in one year, although it
is relatively minor. The rest of their sensory organs are in excellent condition.
As for self-perception, both the man and the wife describe themselves as optimists. They
believe that they have been blessed with a good family and generally healthy bodies. The man is
content with the progress of his career and the wife is content with her life generally. The girl,
however, seems to lack self-esteem as she does not like her body.
On role relationship, there is a clear gender division of labor. The mother prepares meals,
keeps the house neat and clean, and attends to the needs of the young kids. Occasionally, the
father helps in performance of household chores but that is rare. The mother also constantly
monitors the kids to see if they have any ailment. Both mother and father often help the teenage
girl with her homework. The father believes it is his role to discipline the children and financially
provide for the family. The teenage girl helps the mother with many household chores as well as
taking care of her small siblings.
Regarding sexuality, the woman and her husband are generally content with their sexual
relationship though because of the kids, their sexual relations are irregular. No sexual
dysfunction was reported. The parents are also quite knowledgeable on matters regarding sexual
health and the various methods of using contraceptives. Despite being a staunch Catholic, the
husband reports that he went for vasectomy after the birth of his twin sons because he does not
want any more children. However, both parents are uncomfortable talking about sex with their
daughter despite her being almost an adult.
Lastly, the family had various ways of coping with stress. The main one was prayer. Any
time they experience stressful events they pray multiple times a day. They also use physical

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activity as a means of relieving stress. The mother reported that she felt her moods improve after
jogging. The main sources of stress in the family were financial and worries about the health of
the kids.
Looking at the health patterns of this family, there are many behaviors that promote good
outcomes in the family. One of them is regular physical exercises. Both parents know the value
of physical exercises and set aside adequate time for physical activities. The mother is an avid
jogger while the father regularly goes to the gym. The teenage daughter is also very physically
active. Similar physical activity has been encouraged among the young twin boys. Such physical
activity is important in keeping the body free from health conditions such as cardiovascular
diseases. Another positive health behavior of the family is focus on nutritious foods. Their diet is
well-balanced and devoid of junk food. Such diet helps keep them from a wide range of diseases
such as diabetes.
On the flipside, the family does not seem to take medical check ups seriously. Apart from
eyesight checks, there are no other check ups that any of the family members gets. Additionally,
the daughter does not receive adequate sleep due to spending a lot of time on her smartphone at
night. This lack of sleep is likely to increase her stress and reduce her concentration during the
day. The parents have also failed to provide her proper sex education. Discussions regarding sex
seem to be taboo in the family.
Family systems theory can be used in dealing with health behaviors that lead to
undesirable health outcomes. According to this theory, family constitutes a strong emotional unit
that has significant effect on the health of individuals within the unit. The health of individual
family members should, therefore, not be dealt with in isolation but in the context of their

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families (Beckvar & Beckvar, 2017). The theory, in particular, can be used to help the teenage
daughter have better sleep. The family could make another rule that forbids sleeping with
smartphones. In that she will start sleeping on time and, therefore, have adequate sleep.

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References

Becvar, R. J., & Becvar, D. S. (2017). Systems theory and family therapy: A primer. Rowman &
Littlefield.
Harkness, G. A., & DeMarco, R. F. (2016). Community and public health nursing: Evidence for
practice. Wolters Kluwer.
Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., & Robinson, M. (2018). Family health care nursing:
Theory, practice, and research. FA Davis.

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Appendix

1. Values/ Health Perception: Do you take family members to hospital even for health
   problems you consider minor? How often do you go for medical checks? What values do
   you hold dearest in this family?
2. Nutrition: Would you consider the foods you take as nutritious? When buying food do
   you read labels on it to determine their nutrition value? What kind of foods do you mostly
   take in this family?
3. Sleep/Rest: On average how long do you sleep at night? Do you experience any
   disturbances to your sleep? Is there anyone who snores?
4. Elimination: Do you have bowel movements that are normal? How often do you
   experience the movements? Have you ever had problems with your bowel movements?
5. Exercise/Activity: How often do you exercise? What are some of the exercises that you
   usually perform, if any? Do you find the exercises beneficial in any way?
6. Cognitive: Would you consider yourself forgetful? Do you ever feel like you are
   confused? When making decisions do you follow any formula?
7. Sensory-Perception: How would you describe your eyesight? Do you have any problems
   with tasting? How is your hearing?
8. Self-perception: Do you have hope for the future? Would you describe yourself as
   successful? Are you content with your life thus far?
9. Role relationship: How would you describe the relationship with your spouse? How do
   you maintain discipline in the family? How close is the family?

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10. Sexuality: Do you use contraceptives? Do you openly discuss matters of sexual health
    with each other? How would you describe your sex life? Is there any observable sexual
    dysfunction?
11. Coping: When stressed how do you cope with it? Have you recently experienced events
    that you would consider stressful? Do you think your family or work environment is
    stressful?