Family-Focused Functional Assessment: Yaryshev’s Family

A functional assessment of the family is a part of the nursing practice that helps establish a family’s health perception. Gordon’s functional health patterns is typically used to address well-being problems and their possible solutions (Weisman & Montgomery, 2019; MacDonell & Prinz, 2017; Al‐Motlaq et al., 2018). Yaryshev’s family chosen for the assignments are Ukrainian currently residing in Baraboo, Wisconsin. A 43-year-old husband and a 39-year-old wife, who have been married for 18 years now, have two children. Their eldest son is a 16-year old freshman, and a younger daughter is a 3-year-old child currently attending kindergarten.

Values/Health Perception

1. Family identified their overall health as good but demanding more awareness.
2. Mrs. Yarysheva and the children do health checkups every year while Mr. Yaryshev does not.
3. Mr. Yaryshev is concerned about breathing problems, however neglects visiting a doctor.

Nutrition

1. The family reported eating in the restaurants twice a month.
2. Mrs. Yarysheva sometimes reads food labels and the rest of the members does not.
3. Children tend to eat Snickers chocolate bars at school almost everyday and their father likes having chips after lunch.

Sleep/Rest

1. “We sleep 8 hours each night.”
2. All family members have Saturday and Sunday as their days off.
3. None of them has ever encountered insomnia problems.

Elimination

1. The Yaryshevs did not have any intestines or bladder infections.
2. Non of them has problems urinating.
3. They reported urinating up to ten times a day.

Activity/Exercise

1. Mrs. Yarysheva attends fitness classes every day, her spouse goes hiking once a week, and their son is a baseball player.
2. All of them mentioned love for doing any physical activity: “It is important for us to keep fit”.
3. Parents prefer either gym or jogging, while their son likes group sports.

Cognitive

1. They reported not having any issues making a decision.
2. All of them are rarely confused.
3. Sometimes their son forgets to do home assignments.

Sensory/Perception

1. Mr. Yaryshev told that his wife has sensitive taste buds: “She can taste many condiments at once”.
2. Everyone in a family has a perfect eyesight apart from their eldest son who wears glasses while using computer.
3. Only Mr. Yaryshev mentioned that he cannot scent smells before falling asleep and after waking up. He stated that it could be the reason of smoking.

Self-Perception

1. Parents told that their self-esteem is quite adequate and their never felt bad about their appearance. However, their son reported having insecurities due to the transitional age.
2. Family could recognize their needs, desires, and priorities.
3. They all have some plans and intentions set for future.

Role Relationship

1. Mr. Yaryshev considers himself the head of the family as he bears all the financial responsibilities.
2. The spouses try to show their children an example of a good family. However, they have conflicts over small inconsistencies sometimes too.
3. Currently, they are struggling with their son’s school performance as he pays too much attention to playing baseball rather than to studying.

Sexuality

1. The spouses told that they have sex at least once a week.
2. They did not have any dysfunctions in their bed.
3. Their eldest son knows what sex is and is aware of the methods of contraception.

Coping

1. The Yaryshevs’s try to discuss stressful situations within family and look for the ways of solving problems.
2. Once their son hid the fact that he skipped the school twice and spent time at his friend’s house.
3. They told that almost every day at the dinner they discuss each event.

Wellness Diagnosis

The primary risk Mr. Yaryshev faces is his breathing problem; therefore, he needs to do a health checkup. Another issue concerns their son and his unwillingness to share his problems. This can be fixed by attending a consultant or therapist. The areas of strengths are their will to do sports and their openness with one another. These aspects help them to be physically and mentally sound. The general health of the family can be described as good and stable, and they are ready to take measures for improving their well-being.

Reference

Al‐Motlaq, M. A., Carter, B., Neill, S., Hallstrom, I. K., Foster, M., Coyne, I., Arabiat, D., Darbyshire, P., Feeg, V. D., Shields, L. (2018). Toward developing consensus on family‐centered care: An international descriptive study and discussion. Journal of Child Healthcare, 1–10.

MacDonell, K.W., & Prinz, R.J. (2017). A review of technology-based youth and family-focused interventions. Clinical Children and Family Psychological Review, 20, 185–200.

Weisman, C. B., & Montgomery, P. (2019). Functional family therapy (FFT) for behavior disordered youth aged 10–18: An overview of reviews. Research on Social Work Practice, 29(3), 333–346.

Appendix

1. Values/Health perception: How do you evaluate health of your family? Do you often visit your physician or therapist? Are you concerned with your health issues and if so, how do you cope with them?
2. Nutrition: Do you often eat in the restaurants of cafes? How often do you read labels on food? Is it hard for you not to eat snacks?
3. Sleep/Rest: How many hours a night you sleep? How often do you have days off? Have you ever had insomnia?
4. Elimination: Have you ever been diagnosed with bowel or urinary infection? Do you have problems urinating? How often do you urinate?
5. Activities/Exercise: Are you involved in any physical activity throughout the day? Do you like doing sports? What types of exercises do you prefer?
6. Cognitive: Do you have any problems with decision-making? Do you often get confused? Do you often lose things or forget facts?
7. Sensory perception: Do you have any problems tasting food or drinks? Is your eyesight good? Do you have problems smelling?
8. Self-perception: What is your opinion about yourself? How well do you know yourself? Do you have any considerations about your future?
9. Role relationship: Who makes the vital decisions in your family? How do you discipline your children? Do you have any issues raising your children?
10. Sexuality: How often do you have sex with your partner? Are there any dysfunctions in your sexual life? Are your children aware of sex?
11. Coping: How do you deal with stress? Do you children hide their problems from you? How often do you have family discussions?