Assignment Cultural Competence Skills: Family Health Assessment
Assignment Cultural Competence Skills: Family Health Assessment
Assignment Cultural Competence Skills Family Health Assessment
Family health assessment is essential in helping a nurse promote the heath of a specific family within a defined community. In most of the cases, the assessment focuses on the family structure, their health status and the social determiner of heath among other important facts (Dorell, Isaksson, Östlund, & Sundin, 2017). For instance, Martin is a 38-year-old African American man who recently married Angela, 34 years old. They live in Ocala City, in Marion County, Florida. They have only one child, Antony who is 12 years old. Both the parents are always busy during the week with Martin managing the family business downtown, while Angela is a kindergarten teacher. They are strong Christians, who have the norm of going to church every Sunday as a family. Based on their health record, Martins family seems to be pretty healthy with very minimal health complications.
Socio-Economic
Martin’s family is well organized with both parents contributing finances for their general upkeep. Every morning, Martin leaves the house very early to go and open the store as Angela is left behind to prepare Tony for school after which they will leave together. They are active members of the community especially when it comes to collective services. Being Christians, they believe in the art of helping the poor, and every month, they try to visit the homeless and provide them with food and clothing (Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, & Robinson, 2018). Their son is part of the church junior choir and spends most of his weekends in church.
Environment
Martin’s family is a middle-income family that lives in a relatively friendly and safe environment. They own a three-bedroom house away from the city, which is quite comfortable given the size of the family. They have access to clean drinking water, and clean air with a properly maintained sewage system keeping the neighborhood free from toxins. The clean air and water have benefited the family from contracting water-borne diseases and airborne ailments such as asthma, cancer or cardiovascular complications (Peterson-Burch, 2018). The neighborhood also has good infrastructure in addition to easily accessible health care facilities, and schools among other recreational and social facilities.
Health Status
The family is generally healthy with minor health complications. Angela has always made sure to prepare a healthy
balanced diet for dinner and breakfast when the family is together. She also prepares healthy foods for Antony to carry to school for lunch. Antony is, however, slightly overweight. Martin drinks occasionally and was recently diagnosed with gout, hence consumes meat very rarely. Also, Martin’s father has a history of hypertension, while his mother died recently from a road accident. Angela was asthmatic as a kid, but it was properly managed, and she is currently living a healthy life. Her mother is diabetic, while her father is struggling with hypertension. They, however, have a family nurse, who advises them on how to stay healthy, and conducts follow up screening and physical examination regularly (Thornton et al., 2016).
Health Promotion
The family is very keen when it comes to diet and physical activity to make sure that they all stay healthy at all cost. Martin plays basketball during weekends, and also runs every morning for about 30 minutes before going to work. Angela is an indoor mum, who rarely goes out unless it is necessary. She, however, runs sometime in the morning with Martin. On the other hand, Antony is quite active and plays basketball most of the time with his peers after school within the neighborhood. His diet is controlled to help manage his weight to prevent him from becoming obese (Virgini, Meindl-Fridez, Battegay, & Zimmerli, 2015). The family nurse also made sure that his vaccinations were up to date when he was still a kid.
Evaluation
Martin’s family is quite healthy with a warm and nurturing relationship among family members. They are very supportive of one another especially when it comes to healthcare complications. They have a family nurse and strongly believe in pharmacotherapy, rather than traditional medication. Together with the assistance of the family nurse, the family has always tried to adopt a healthy living, from both diet to physical exercise (Russell, Beckmeyer, & Su-Russell, 2018). They also reside in a friendly and safe neighborhood, free from toxins among other health hazards.
Nursing Care Plan
Given the past medical history of Martin’s family, it is important for the nurse to encourage a family-centered care model to make sure that the family is aware of all the diseases that they are predisposed to, and how to prevent them. The nurse can also help by informing the family on non-pharmacological ways that they can use to help Antony reduce his weight. Finally, the family should be encouraged to conduct frequent physical examination and screening, for instance, Angela for breast cancer, and colonoscopy for Martin, for early detection of health issues to avoid further complications (Fox & Reeves, 2015).
Part 2
Evaluation of the Family’s Health
Martin was recently diagnosed with gout which was managed properly with NSAIDs and Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors to avoid further complications. He was however advised to reduce the amount of alcohol that he takes in addition to sweet beverages. He consumes limited amounts of foods high in purine. Finally, he exercises very regularly to control his weight.
Angela, on the other hand, is healthy but has a history of asthma. She exercises regularly and watches her weight to prevent certain diseases such as diabetes given her family medical history.
Lastly, Antony is overweight, but with the help of his parents and the family nurse, he has been able to lose some pounds in the past few days. He strictly adheres to a healthy eating plan and regular physical exercise as recommended by the family nurse.
Nursing Plan Targeting Intervention and Health Promotion and Prevention
It is the obligation of the nurse to promote the patient’s health and prevent diseases. Based on the above family health assessment, Martin’s family needs to be acknowledged on all the social determinants of health, and measure to prevent certain complication. This can be properly achieved through the following steps: initiating communication with the family members, identifying the familial importance, encouraging family and organizational collaboration, enabling members of the family to support treatment and finally encouraging cultural literacy (Cianfrocca et al., 2018).
Recommended Resources
- Florida Department of Health in Marion County,
Address: 1801 SE 32nd Avenue Ocala, FL 34471-5532
Telephone: 352-629-0137.
- Heart of Florida Health Center
Address: Administrative Office 203 E. Silver Springs Blvd. #101 Ocala, FL 34470
Telephone: (352) 732-6599 Fax: (352) 390-8976.
- Children’s Health of Ocala:
Address: Oakhurst Professional Park, 1301 SE 25th Loop, Ocala, FL 34471
Telephone: (352) 671-1800.
- Ocala Health Primary Care, LLC Dba Family Care Specialists
Address: 2415 SE 17th St, Ocala, FL 34471, USA
Telephone: +1 352-622-2221
References
Cianfrocca, C., Caponnetto, V., Donati, D., Lancia, L., Tartaglini, D., & Di, S. E. (December 01, 2018). The effects of a multidisciplinary education course on the burden, health literacy and needs of family caregivers. Applied Nursing Research, 44, 100-106.
In Kaakinen, J. R., In Coehlo, D. P., In Steele, R., & In Robinson, M. (2018). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research. Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis.
Dorell, Å., Isaksson, U., Östlund, U., & Sundin, K. (2017). Family Health Conversations have Positive Outcomes on Families – A Mixed Method Research Study. The open nursing journal, 11, 14–25. doi:10.2174/1874434601711010014
Thornton, R. L., Glover, C. M., Cené, C. W., Glik, D. C., Henderson, J. A., & Williams, D. R. (January 01, 2016). Evaluating Strategies For Reducing Health Disparities By Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health. Health Affairs (project Hope), 35(8), 1416-23.
Virgini, V., Meindl-Fridez, C., Battegay, E., & Zimmerli, L. (January 30, 2015). Check-up examination: recommendations in adults. Swiss Medical Weekly.
Russell, L. T., Beckmeyer, J. J., & Su-Russell, C. (January 10, 2018). Family-Centered Care and Positive Developmental Outcomes for Youth with Special Health Care Needs Variations Across Family Structures. Journal of Family Nursing, 24(1), 29-59.
Fox, A., & Reeves, S. (January 01, 2015). Interprofessional collaborative patient-centered care: a critical exploration of two related discourses. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 29(2), 113-118.