Functional Health Patterns: Analysis
The family under analysis belongs to the low middle class, with most of its family members being of Latin American descent. The assessment of the patient and their family, in general, will allow pinpointing the existing health issues, as well as identifying the sources of possible future concerns. As a result, a significant improvement of the overall health levels thereof can be expected.
In the course of the assessment, twelve key domains were overviewed. The analysis of functional health patterns has shown that the family’s health levels can be described as moderately positive. Particularly, only two of the analyzed health domains currently require management. The responses of the participant and their family members indicate that they have a generally positive idea of health. The identified family recognizes the significance of rest and has proper sleep patterns that are not disrupted by any factors.
There have been no negative changes in the sensory or cognitive perceptions of either of the family members. Therefore, the general ability to acquire and process new information can be regarded as high. The specified skill is crucial to the patient and their family since they represent a linguistic and ethnic minority in the area of their residence and, thus, may face difficulties retaining their culture and the image of their identity and self. Therefore, the current tendencies observed in the family can be regarded as positive.
The rest of the wellness indicators also point to generally positive trends in the specified environment. The patient and their family recognize the significance of physical activities, which is crucial given some of the concerns about the dieting choices that they make. Overall, the levels of wellness can be seen as moderately good, yet further instructions for sustaining health and engaging in self-care activities is required to ensure the well-being of the patient and their family members.
Two Wellness Problems
According to the outcomes of the assessment, there are two primary health concerns that need to be addressed immediately. Problems in the nutrition of the family members can be seen as one of the most important areas of concern. The fact that most of the family members support rather unhealthy eating habits and are unwilling to embrace a change in their current lifestyle shows that an immediate intervention is overdue (Agha et al., 2016).
Although the respondent does not seem to have weight problems currently, their response to the specified question indicates that there may be certain issues that need to be addressed before improper nutrition affects them or their family to an even greater degree.
The implementation of changes that must be made to the respondent’s and their family’s diet is likely to be fraught with certain difficulties. A closer look at the cultural and economic background of the patient will reveal that the current imbalanced diet is the effect of financial issues and not the unwillingness to follow healthy eating habits. Therefore, the concept of balanced nutrition needs to be aligned with the financial opportunities of the patient.
Furthermore, the cultural specifics of the patient and their family members must be considered when designing an improved approach to dieting. A closer look at the national cuisine of the patient will reveal that there is a range of fats and carbohydrates in their national dishes. Therefore, it is crucial to select the options that are both healthy and at the same time linked to the culinary specifics of their cuisine (Bowling, Moretti, Ringelheim, Tran, & Davison, 2016). Particularly, the inclusion of various vegetables, fruit, and lean meat will have to be viewed as a necessity.
In addition, the current approach toward coping with family-related difficulties could use significant improvement. According to the responses provided by the interview participant, the coping mechanism that they and their family members use to handle grief and similar emotions can be described as avoidance. Particularly, the topics that are viewed as painful or disturbing are avoided consistently (Dardas & Ahmad, 2015). Although the specified strategy might seem as appropriate in the short term, it is likely to cause significant psychological distress in the future.
The specified changes will also require using a strategy aimed at educating the patient and their family members about the necessity of self-care, the health concerns that they may have to face, and the resources that they can use to receive proper assistance. The specified step involves providing the patient and their family with the tools for contacting nearly nursing facilities (Greene, Hibbard, Sacks, Overton, & Parrotta, 2015). For instance, using social networks as the means of keeping in touch with the local healthcare facilities should be regarded as an important opportunity (Edwards, Wood, Davies, & Edwards, 2015).
In addition, detailed instructions will have to be provided to both the interviewee and their family members about the importance of open communication and the family support as the tools for minimizing suffering and improving the overall quality of life (Price et al., 2014). The specified alterations to the overall coping patterns will lead to abandoning the current strategy of silencing problematic issues and developing a grudge against some family members.
While the approach that the patients’ family currently uses can be described as the one helping to avoid the conflict and, thus, evade the direct confrontation, it is going to have detrimental effects on their relationships and, possibly, emotional health in the long term.
Therefore, it is critical to introduce the patient and their family members to the idea of an open and uninhibited conversation. The specified change to their current mode of communication is likely to be met with a certain amount of resistance since the suggested strategy will imply altering the existing behaviors that have been cemented in the identified setting. However, the specified alteration will require the participation of all family members. It is crucial for each of the participants to be willing to contribute to the improvement of their well-being and interactions. Therefore, a comprehensive therapy with an intervention aimed at enhancing communication and cooperation between the family members should be regarded as a necessary step toward managing the identified health concerns.
References
Agha, R. A., Fowler, A. J., Saeta, A., Barai, I., Rajmohan, S., Orgill, D. P.,… Aronson, J. (2016). The SCARE statement: Consensus-based surgical case report guidelines. International Journal of Surgery, 34, 180-186.
Bowling, A. B., Moretti, M., Ringelheim, K., Tran, A., & Davison, K. (2016). Healthy foods, healthy families: Combining incentives and exposure interventions at urban farmers’ markets to improve nutrition among recipients of US federal food assistance. Health Promotion Perspectives, 6(1), 10-16.
Dardas, L. A., & Ahmad, M. M. (2015). Coping strategies as mediators and moderators between stress and quality of life among parents of children with autistic disorder. Stress and Health, 31(1), 5-12.
Edwards, M., Wood, F., Davies, M., & Edwards, A. (2015). ‘Distributed health literacy’: Longitudinal qualitative analysis of the roles of health literacy mediators and social networks of people living with a long‐term health condition. Health Expectations, 18(5), 1180-1193.
Greene, J., Hibbard, J. H., Sacks, R., Overton, V., & Parrotta, C. D. (2015). When patient activation levels change, health outcomes and costs change, too. Health Affairs, 34(3), 431-437.
Price, R. A., Elliott, M. N., Zaslavsky, A. M., Hays, R. D., Lehrman, W. G., Rybowski, L.,… Cleary, P. D. (2014). Examining the role of patient experience surveys in measuring health care quality. Medical Care Research and Review, 71(5), 522-554.
Appendix A: Interview Questions
Values, Health Perception
- How do you define health?
- What health-related traditions does your family have?
- What specific health-related goals does your family have?
Nutrition
- How do you define nutrition?
- What type of products do you usually consume?
- Can you all your family’s current diet as healthy? Why/Why not?
Sleep/Rest
- How many hours per day do you and your family members usually sleep?
- Are there any factors that distract you or your family members form sleeping well?
- How do you handle sleeping issues in your family?
Elimination
- What problems do you or your family members currently have with their bowel movements?
- What issues do you or your family members have with urination?
- What health issues complicate the process of elimination for you or your family members?
Activity/Exercise
- How do you and your family members see the idea of exercising?
- What kind of fitness issues, if any, you or your family members have?
- What strategies do you use to address the specified health concerns or maintain your current shape?
Cognitive
- What strategies do you use to assess your and your family’s cognitive skills and abilities?
- What changes in your and your family’s cognitive skills have you noticed lately?
- How has you’re and your family members’ verbal or numerical reasoning changed?
Sensory-Perception
- What changes in your or your family members’ visual abilities have you noticed recently?
- Have you or your family members experienced difficulties hearing certain information recently? If so, in what way?
- What other sensory issues have you or your family members had over the past few months, if any?
Self-Perception
- What body image do you have of yourself?
- What body images do your family members have of themselves?
- How do you tend to feel about your image of yourself?
Role Relationship
- Which of the traditional roles can be observed in relationships between your family members?
- Does your family follow traditional ideas of gender roles?
- What would you like to change about the current role relationships in your family?
Sexuality
- How do you and your family members view the idea of discussing sexuality?
- What sexuality-related issues are viewed as a taboo in your family, I any?
- What sexuality-related topics are you reluctant to discuss with your family?
Coping
- What psychological issues do you or your family members experience?
- What coping mechanisms have you or your family members developed to handle the specified issues?
- Why do you believe that the specified coping strategies are healthy?