Introduction
Facilitation of family health is considered to be one of the ultimate goals of nursing. The purpose of a family health assessment is to identify potential or actual problems of individual family members and of the family as a whole. The process includes assessment, diagnosis, implementation, and evaluation of the situation (Gordon, 2014).
The family I selected for my analysis is the Kurokawa family. It belongs to the Asian-American ethnic group. It is a traditional nuclear family comprised of three members. The mother is 31, the father is 33, and their daughter is 8 years old. They are third-generation Americans. The family has relatives in Massachusetts and San Francisco. They have settled in Miami, Florida, roughly 5 years ago.
The Kurokawa family is traditional in terms of its structure. The husband is the leader and primary provider for the family. He works as a programmer in a large company. The mother is a copywriter – although her primary duties involve taking care of the child and working around the house, she earns some money by picking up situational freelance jobs on the Internet. The child is expected to study well and help her mother around the house with small chores.
Analysis
None of the family members has any physical or psychological conditions that could affect the family function. Both parents are stable individuals who lack any sort of serious mental or health problems. The child has a mild form of ADHD.
The family owns a small two-story house, which provides enough living space for three people. The house is in good shape and is provided with all the utilities, which include gas, electricity, water supply, television, and the Internet. The financial situation is moderately stable – the family is currently in debt for the house they purchased. According to their payment plan, this debt is expected to be paid in the next 7 years. The father’s salary is above average and is enough to support three people.
All three members of the family accomplish age-appropriate development tasks adequately. The mother and the father are fully-grown and responsible adults. The child has a mild case of ADHD, which sometimes affects the quality of her homework to a small margin.
The individual development levels are normal. However, the parents express a degree of concern whenever their child receives a below-average grade, which happens from time to time.
The Kurokawa family is now in its fourth development stage, which is identified by their daughter attending primary school. They are handling the situation well. According to the mother, they had some trouble during the first year after their child was born, as they were not experienced with handling a newborn baby.
The mother and her branch of the family tree have a predisposition towards chronic tonsillitis, in a mild form. This usually manifests through having a sore throat and does not last longer than three days. The father has no knowledge about any genetic predisposition towards diseases on his side.
The child is properly immunized against all forms of Hepatitis, Tetanus, Influenza, Measles, Papillomavirus, Varicella, Polio, Pneumococcal, and Meningococcal viruses, as established by her certificate of immunization status (CIS). The adults did not receive any additional vaccinations in at least 8 years.
Aside from the mild case of ADHD, the only child does not seem to have any problems. She appears well-nourished, and all of her needs are properly attended to. The girl does not experience any deficiencies in socialization or development.
The family prefers to avoid hospital admission if it is possible. They claim that full-time hospital care is expensive and they do not seem satisfied with the quality of services provided by their local hospital. Most minor ailments are treated at home. In case of a serious emergency, they prefer to call the doctor to visit.
The most common family communication pattern expressed in the Kurokawa family is the consensual pattern, where both conversation and conformity are valued highly (Vangelisti, 2012). The desires and opinions of the child are listened to and taken into account, but the parents make the final decisions, which may or may not be to the child’s liking. The reasoning for such decisions is often explained.
The decision-making in the family is split into two areas of responsibility – the father manages finances, while the mother makes the decisions about the child and the household. The family members trust one another with their respective areas of responsibility. The child’s opinions are taken into account.
There is no evidence of violence in the family. According to the mother, the father rarely if ever gets to discipline their daughter, as it is her responsibility and not his. The typical techniques used to discipline the girl are the scolding and “the face.” The latter is when the mother makes an expression of severe disappointment.
During a crisis, the family relies on each other for emotional support. The father is expected to provide for his family, and the mother – to look after the child. However, should one of the two key family members be in no position to assume his functions, the other members are willing to shoulder the burden until recovery.
According to the mother, all three family members are atheists. However, their set of beliefs of what constitutes a good person is very familiar with the tenets stated in the Bible. The family’s ancestry is shown through the value of hard work and household responsibility separation. However, the restrictive traditions typical of the Japanese culture do not see much use.
The current family goals involve freeing themselves from the house debt and providing for the child’s education. The family does not believe in taking loans, as their experience with the loan for the house did not satisfy them. They are planning to earn enough money to afford for their child’s education without the need for her to take a student loan.
In case of any extraordinary events, the Kurokawa family can find support among their far relatives, which live in San Francisco and Massachusetts. Despite the distance, they keep a close connection. In an emergency, the family could count on them. In addition, the family is on friendly terms with the majority of the neighborhood and could count on them for emotional and financial support, to a certain degree.
The family admits that they do not have an established emergency plan to deal with crises and disasters. They never really thought about it until I questioned them about it. While they say they can rely on the support of their relatives and the community, they have no particular course of action in mind aside from calling relatives and telling them what happened.
The Family Nursing Care Plan.
References
Family emergency plan. (2016). Web.
Gordon, M. (2014). Manual of nursing diagnosis. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sonuga-Barke, E.J.S., Brandeis, D., Cortese, S., Daley, D., Ferrin, M., Holtmann, M., … Sergeant, J. (2013). Nonpharmacological interventions for ADHD: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of dietary and psychological treatments. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 170(3), 275-289.
Vangelisti, A.L. (2012). The Routledge handbook of family communication. New York, NY: Routledge.