Introduction
The connection between people and their families has been widely studied for a long time. The climate within the family has an undeniable effect on the health of its members (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, & Robinson, 2018). Understanding the structure, lifestyle, attitude towards health, nutrition, and other factors is essential for caring for the patient and their family. However, in practice, the information during the interview process is rarely collected in sufficient detail (Wu et al., 2019). While conducting a formal family interview helps to determine the strengths of the family’s moral and physical health, paying attention to weaknesses in family health is also important. As a result, this information allows understanding and guidance for the family.
Main Body
The assessment of the microsystem shows that the interviewed family includes four members: two parents and two sons. All of the family members are Caucasian, with an average (or slightly above average) income. The father has his own company, the main activity of which is grain trading, and he drives daily for work. The mother has raised sons and was at home most of the time, but now she works close to home. The oldest son works in the field of trading, while the youngest son has recently graduated from the university and is now looking for a job (Jones, personal interview, September 16, 2020). The mesosystem assessment for the family consists of identifying the environment and the religious affiliation (Zator Estes, Calleja, Theobald, & Harvey, 2019). The family lives in a multi-story building in a central part of town, which has several hospitals and the physicians of all specialties. The family members embrace Islam.
According to the interview responses, the functional health pattern strength is in vegetable nutrition, which provides vitamins, acids, minerals, and trace elements, strengthening the immune system. Apart from it, the strength is in getting enough sleep, which has a positive effect on the performance of the whole body. The physical activities such as playing volleyball and walking reduce the risk of heart attack and normalize weight. Moreover, the strength functional health patterns also include good cognitive indicators, the absence of memory problems, the ability to handle stress, and the trust within the family.
As far as health problems and health barriers concerned, they include the lack of restrictions on sugar consumption, adaptability to new situations, and the presence of vision and hearing problems. According to the family systems theory, any change in one member of the family affects all the others (Wu et al., 2019). Therefore, to solicit positive changes in family members’ functions, it is necessary to limit sugar consumption, learn to adapt to new situations and pay attention to eliminating problems with vision and hearing.
Currently, the health of the family may be outlined as decent, even though there are no specific restrictions when it comes to products high in sugar and carbs. This means that every member of the family should pay closer attention to what they eat and how it affects their health. Otherwise, they could be exposed to the adverse influence of diabetes or concomitant heart diseases. As of now, there may be no specific recommendations provided to the family owing to the lack of negative behavioral patterns that could damage their health. The family systems theory could be applied to the current family to help the sons build a closer connection to their father. This could be achieved by proposing group activities that would involve all family members and promote teamwork and desire to find ways to establish effective communication.
Conclusion
To conclude, conducting a family interview helps to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the family’s health, to which the patient and their family should pay attention. The importance of the connection between individuals and their families is undeniable while working in partnership with families in the healthcare system is crucial. Currently, it is necessary to actively disseminate such a practice and collect information during interviews comprehensively to significantly impact healthcare decisions.
References
Jones, M. (2020). Personal interview [Personal interview].
Kaakinen, J. R., Padgett Coehlo, D., Steele, R., & Robinson, M. (2018). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research (6th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.
Wu, R. R., Myers, R. A., Sperber, N., Voils, C. I., Neuner, J., McCarty, C. A., … Orlando, L. A. (2019). Implementation, adoption, and utility of family health history risk assessment in diverse care settings: Evaluating implementation processes and impact with an implementation framework. Genetics in Medicine, 21, 331–338. Web.
Zator Estes, M. E., Calleja, P, Theobald, K., & Harvey, T. (2019). Health assessment and physical examination (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Cengage.