Introduction
People should be aware of the health challenges facing them to seek adequate medical support or services. They should also assess their conditions periodically to identify risk factors for poor health outcomes. Practitioners should also assess the health needs of different families in an attempt to develop the best intervention strategies. This paper, therefore, gives a detailed health assessment of a nuclear family and presents a powerful care plan for its members.
Description of the Family
The selected family for this analysis has three members. These include the family head (Jimmy), his wife (Mary), and a daughter (Angela). The three are aged 34, 29, and 2 years respectively. The members of this nuclear family belong to the African American cultural group. The leader of this family, Jimmy, is the primary provider. Mary is unemployed but she has been taking care of the baby. Jimmy works as an accountant in a small firm in the neighborhood.
The members of the family do not have psychological or physical conditions. However, Mary’s body mass index (BMI) stands at 28. This index means that a given person is at risk of becoming obese (Kumanyika, Whitt-Glover, & Haire-Joshu, 2014). Obesity is also a risk factor for different conditions such as cancer and hypertension. Betty has been unable to complete some of her roles in the house due to her health condition. It is also important to note that the family members live in a decent house. The surrounding environment is also neat and friendly. The individuals live above five dollars a day. This is the case because Jimmy has a stable income. The family’s income is, therefore, sustainable and capable of meeting every person’s needs.
These individuals have accomplished their age-specific developmental roles. For example, Jimmy has a family and a good job. He has completed his college education. Marry has also completed the O level and has a daughter. She is married and uses her competencies to ensure that the family remains successful. Their daughter is healthy, can walk freely, and utter a few words fluently. The developmental states of the family members are not causing any form of stress. Additionally, the parents have been keen to support Angela’s needs.
The parents in the family are in the child-bearing stage. This means that they have completed the roles of the newly-married stage successfully. They have been keen to achieve their goals in every stage. They have also gained adequate education from their previous developmental stages. The family does not have any history of a known genetic predisposition to the disease. However, Betty’s overweight is a risk factor for obesity for her and Angela. All members of the family, including Angela, have got all necessary vaccination against diseases such as diphtheria, tuberculosis, measures, and malaria.
As indicated earlier, the child in the family is not experiencing problems. Betty was hospitalized before giving birth. Jimmy was keen to take her to the hospital, support her needs, and organize transportation. This scenario reveals that every person in the family is always willing to support one another in the case of hospitalization. Interpersonal communication is taken seriously in this family. Telephones are used during the daytime whenever Jimmy is at work. These practices reveal that typical modes of communication are effective.
Jimmy has been keen to ensure that emerging issues are addressed immediately. This is achieved through the use of appropriate decision-making processes. He shares ideas with her wife to make appropriate decisions. There is no evidence within this nuclear family. The individuals embrace the power of a code of ethics that dictates the behaviors, actions, and communication processes used in the family. Due to the nature of these attributes, the individuals address crises much faster. They also encourage their parents to support them whenever they have significant differences.
Since members of the family are African Americans, several factors such as Christian beliefs and traditional medicine influence their health outcomes. Prayers and fasting are taken seriously. The individuals also embrace the use of herbs for specific conditions such as common cold and flu. The social status of the race makes it impossible for these family members to access some health services such as preventative medications (Waters et al., 2014).
The family is currently planning to raise Angela to become a brilliant young girl. They are also planning to open a small business that will be managed by Betty shortly. Individuals want to become financially stable. Currently, the family’s external source of support comes from Jimmy’s parents. They also work hard to earn enough money to meet their needs. There is no role in conflict or overload in this family. This happens to be the case because every person is aware of his or her responsibilities. The family has not implemented an emergency plan to deal with crises or disasters. This gap explains why an effective strategy should be designed to meet every person’s needs. The family members should also support the plan in an attempt to record positive results.
Care Plan: Using the Nursing Process
Nursing Diagnoses
- The first nursing diagnosis focuses on the increased risk for obesity as evidenced by Betty’s health status.
- The second diagnosis focuses on the ability to deal with emergencies as evidenced by the lack of an effective disaster response plan.
- The third diagnosis focuses on appropriate health promotion models to deal with risk factors such as lack of proper health services and conditions such as for overweight.
Goals
- The first objective is for Jimmy to help, guide, and empower his wife to manage her body weight.
- The second one is for the individuals to tackle and monitor conditions associated with obesity such as hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease (Santos & Lima-Basto, 2014).
- The third goal is for the family to develop an evidence-based health promotion plan. The model will ensure that the health issues affecting every family member are addressed effectively.
Nursing Interventions
- Family members should receive adequate resources to control obesity (Ortega, Rodriguez, & Bustamante, 2015). The rationale for this intervention is that such resources will help family members to identify the causes of overweight and obesity. They will also understand why the conditions are risk factors for hypertension and cardiovascular disease (Santos & Lima-Basto, 2014). This understanding will empower them to implement appropriate strategies to deal with the condition.
- The individuals should be able to monitor and maintain their BMIs. The rationale is that a BMI of 25 (or less) is an indicator of a healthy person (Kumanyika et al., 2014). When targeted individuals engage in exercises and eat healthy food materials, they will tackle the problem of obesity successfully.
Evaluation
- Every family member should have a BMI of 22-25. This index is a sign of a healthy individual.
- The family should also develop a powerful and effective health promotion model.
References
Kumanyika, S. K., Whitt-Glover, M. C., & Haire-Joshu, D. (2014). What works for obesity prevention and treatment in black Americans? Research directions. Obesity Reviews, 15(4), 204-212. Web.
Ortega, A. N., Rodriguez, H. P., & Bustamante, A. V. (2015). Policy dilemmas in Latino health care and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The Annual Review of Public Health, 36(1), 525-544. Web.
Santos, M. I, & Lima-Basto, M. (2014). A multi-paradigm model for a holistic nursing. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 7(3), 781-791.
Waters, E., de Silva-Sanigorski, A., Burford, B., Brown, T., Campbell, K., Gao, Y., … Summerbell, C. (2014). Interventions for preventing obesity in children. Sao Paulo Medical Journal, 132(2), 128-129. Web.