Family Health Assessment

Running head: FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 1

Name:

Institution:

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 2

Family Health Assessment

A family health assessment helps to formulate a care plan for the family based on their

needs. To assess the family chosen, family focused open ended questions were used based on

eleven functional health patterns. Gordon’s functional health patterns help to assist in data

collection and development of wellness nursing diagnosis and interventions for the family. In

further detail the summarized findings of each health pattern and wellness nursing diagnoses

based on the family’s individual health assessment, will be discussed.

The family interviewed was a couple that has been married for thirteen years and have

three children. The father is thirty-six years old, the mother is thirty-four years old and their

children’s ages are fifteen, eleven and ten. The father works as a support technician for a factory,

the mother is currently attending nursing school and the three children attend public schools.

Values/ Health Perception

The family health assessment started with the values, health perception pattern. The

family went over different health practices, habits and improving health. The family described

their health status as not the best. The parents expressed not feeling like good role models for

their children, due to both parents being obese. Currently to maintain their health, the kids are

active in sports including volleyball, football and basketball. To improve their health, mom is

currently attending the medical weight loss clinic and the father is active at work and looking

into a gym membership. The mother and father mutually agreed a family goal that is attainable is

weight loss and eating healthier over the next year. The family maintains values through mutual

respect, flexibility and spending time together.

Nutritional

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 3

Based on nutritional pattern, the family stated that they have three meals a day and do not

watch calorie intake. At dinner the children eat together at the dining room table with the

television on and mom and dad eat in the living room with the television on. The majority of the

meals they consume are home cooked, every meal includes a veggie and fruit is eaten as a snack

every now and then. Their two favorite meals are tacos with rice and corn and lasagna. The

beverages consumed most in the house are water, Kool-Aid and diet caffeine free sodas.

Wellness Diagnosis: Readiness for Enhanced Nutritional Metabolic Pattern (Weber, 2005).

Sleep /Rest

The family described their sleep/rest patterns as usually getting adequate sleep. The

children do not have routine bedtimes and go to sleep typically before 10:30pm and wake up at

6am for school. The father works third shift but when he is home his snoring keeps his wife

awake. The mother described some family techniques used to relax before bed includes watching

television and showering before bed.

Elimination

When asked the question related to elimination pattern, the parents stated that all family

members have normal bowel and bladder patterns. The mother stated that her bladder pattern is

pretty frequent due to increased water intake requirements for the weight loss clinic. The family

stated that there are no health conditions or problems with bowel or bladder elimination.

Activity/Exercise

Based on activity and exercise patterns, the parents stated that the children are physically

active in recreational sports several times a week and play outside frequently. The parents

currently are not actively exercising but are researching gym memberships. Both parents

expressed knee problems, which can cause physical limitation with certain exercises and

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 4

activities. The family stated that screen-viewing activities are frequently incorporated into their

daily routines. The mom estimates out of a twenty-four hour day, they use a combination of

computers, cell phones and video games, a total of twelve hours a day.

Wellness Diagnosis: Readiness for Enhanced Activity-Exercise Pattern (Weber, 2005).

Cognitive

Based on the cognitive pattern assessment, the family remains up to date on information

through attending annual physicals, routine dental and vision checkups. The family stays up to

date with immunizations and annual flu vaccines. On average the family uses their primary

doctor’s office for health maintenance and when medical attention is needed due to being really

sick, fever or not getting better.

Sensory-Perception

In terms of sensory perception patterns, the family expressed that they did not have any

sensory deficits. The family also stated that currently there are no diseases that have led to

sensory loss in their family. They all use their senses appropriately to absorb information.

Self-Perception

The questions based on self perception pattern, revealed that the family participates in the

children’s school activities and keeps good relationships with close neighbors. The family feels

that their life in general could be going better. Currently some challenges for the family are that

the mother is trying to complete school, take care of children, have family time and plan meals.

As for overall appearance, the family feels that they all look well and put together, but they could

all feel better and wish that physically the mother and father could do more.

Role Relationship

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 5

Based on roles and relationship patterns, the family has ok relationships with friends,

family and coworkers. They stated that it is difficult to get together with others outside of their

immediate family due to everyone’s busy schedules. The family communicates and resolves

issues within the family by having a family meeting at the dining room table and talking about

the problem, the children can voice their concerns but the mother and father have the final say.

The household tasks are divided amongst the family members by days of the week. The children

do some chores Sunday through Friday, the mother does housework Saturday and Sunday and

the father and son complete the outside yard work.

Sexuality

In terms of sexuality pattern, the assessment was more focused on the parents. They

mutually agreed that their love life is satisfying and they are very happy with one another. The

only dissatisfaction in their love life is that they wish they had more time together, this is a

challenge because the husband works third shift. A current practice of theirs for maintaining a

healthy love life is having date lunches while the kids are at school.

Coping

Based on the coping pattern, the family stated that they cope with stress well as a family.

Some of the current stressors in their family are the father working third shift and the mother

attending nursing school. They have open communication, talk a lot and everyone helps out

when they need to. The family’s current support system is each other and their grandmother. The

wife stated that her family is very good about stepping up to help her make it through finals for

school. Typically her mother will bring meals over for the family, when she is having a stressful

semester in school. The family stated that they solve problems best by addressing them right

away and having a meeting together at the dining room table to talk about the problem.

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 6

In conclusion, a family health assessment helps the nurse plan and prepare for appropriate

interventions based on the assessment results. Through using the assessment patterns and

establishing a process to help motivate the family interviewed to improve their health, the nurse

was able to develop wellness diagnoses that were focused to help the family. Gordon’s eleven

functional health patterns are a great tool in gathering accurate family health assessments.

FAMILY HEALTH ASSESSMENT 7

References

Weber, J. (2005). Nursing Diagnoses (Wellness, Risk, and Actual) Grouped According to

Functional Health. [PDF]. Retrieved from

http://web.archive.org/web/20120526135152/http://jxzy.smu.edu.cn/jkpg/UploadFiles/fil

e/TF_06928152357_nursing%20diagnoses%20grouped%20by%20functional%20health

%20patterns.pdf

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