Running Head: THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 1

Nursing

Institutional Affiliation:

Name:

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 2

Family healthy assessments are very important because e they help in determining a

person's view of their quality of life. The health assessment is also used to find out a person’s

satisfaction level with their health status. Health practitioners use the health assessment to

understand their patients, and hence a comprehensive strategy can be created to ensure that the

patients keep up favorable health. One of the main channels used to collect data on family health

is by use of Gordon's 11 functional health patterns. Gordon's functional health patterns enable

health care practitioners to gather data on a family which is used for control and prevention of

illnesses. I used the functional health patterns to interview Walter's family which will then be

used to determine the general health status of the family (Gordon, 2014).

Values and health perception refer to an individual’s view of health and what they believe

in regards to the general well being. The Walter's describe the general health status to be good.

This is because none of them is on medication and has visited the hospital in the last three

months. The family goes for regular medical checkups where they get their full body health

review to maintain their good health. Each of the family members has been immunized against

all the general diseases. The family is also very strict n their diet and they strive to eat a balanced

diet.

Nutrition health patterns are used to determine the food consumption of the family. The

Walters had mentioned earlier that they strive to eat a balanced diet daily. The family mostly

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 3

takes home made meals which make it easier to achieve a balanced diet. The parents carry home-

made lunch to work and this way they can stick to their healthy eating habits. The children are

offered lunch in the school they attend, and the schools also provide a balanced diet menu.

However, the family goes out once a week and eats in fast foods (Cohn, Ropka, Pelletier, Barrett,

Kinzie, Harrison & Gibson, 2010).

Evaluation of sleep and rest shifts attention to the family's sleeping and resting patterns

and how they affect well being. Each one in the Walters family tries to sleep at least 8 hours

daily. The family watches very little television so immediately after dinner they all retire to bed

early. However, some days the children have to deal with less sleep as they stay up to finish on

school assignments and projects. The usual sleeping time for the family is going to bed at 10:00

pm and waking up at 6:00 am. The family listens to some cool country music over dinner to help

them relax as they prepare to go to bed.

In elimination, the assessment focuses on the family's urination and bowel movement

patterns. The family members have a regular elimination patterns with each one eliminating three

times a day. However, on some school days, the son suffers constipation which shows that his

diet lacked fiber and lack of sleep. The mother also suffered from diarrhea a few months back

due drinking contaminated water at work.

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 4

Exercise refers to any type of physical activity that the family members perform to make

their bodies healthy and active. All family members in the Walter family exercise fairly. Their

son is the only one who has a regular exercise schedule as he plays hockey in school. He

exercises with the team at school and also wakes up early every morning at home for a morning

run. The dad joins him for the morning run four times a week. The mother and sister don't take

part in any strength training, but they walk all the way to work and school respectively. None of

the family members have an active gym membership subscription (Valdez, Yoon, Qureshi,

Green & Khoury, 2010).

Cognitive assessment relates to the thinking and mental well being of the family

members. No one the Walters has even taken an IQ test so we are unable to quantify their IQ.

However, Mr. Walter thinks that they have normal IQ as no one in the family has shown any

genius behavior. Their children are doing well in the school they attend so their IQ cannot be

worse off. The family doesn't know of any existent cognitive activities that they can take part in.

Sensory perception relates to how humans interpret senses. All family members in the

Walter family claim that all their senses are fully functional. The mother wears spectacles to

control light when using the computer. Apart from that, all the other members of the family don't

show any form of a deficit in their sensory functions. Self-perception relates to the kind of

person that you think you are and the Walters have high self-esteem in themselves. They also

believe in hard work and that it is always rewarded thus they work hard determined to succeed in

all aspects of their lives. The Walters are optimistic and hopeful that in future is going to be

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 5

much better for them and the American middle class. Mr. Walter believes that in 5 years he will

finish paying his house mortgage and he will have more financial freedom than now. Mrs.

Walter believes that in 5 years she will have completed her master's degree which she is thinking

of starting by the end of the year. The children believe that in 5 years they will be in college

pursuing a degree in a field that they aspire.

In regards to relationships, Mr. and Mrs. Walter have successfully inculcated the value of

family in their children. The family ensures that they take both breakfast and dinner together.

Each member of the family said they have an average of three close friends. Mr. Walter hangs

out with his friends during the weekend when watching a football match in the local market.

Mrs. Walter bonds with her friends on Sunday afternoon when they go to the grocery market.

The children always see their friends in school and sometimes get together for sleepovers.

According to Mrs. Walter, what makes relationship last is accepting diversity in that people are

not the same and welcome the different opinions that each person will have (Huber, Knottnerus,

Green, van der Horst, Jadad, Kromhout & Schnabel, 2011).

Mr. and Mrs. Walter have two children, the first born is a boy and the second born is a

girl. The first born is a senior and already has a girlfriend so he relates very well to the opposite

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 6

sex. The second born is in middle school, and all her friends are girls so her interaction with boys

is limited. Mr. Walter says he regularly talks to his son about sexuality when they hang out

together. The task of talking to their daughter has been left to Mrs. Walter, but she says she has

not yet introduced the topic to her daughter. The couples regularly experience some pressure and

stress from their jobs. When the family gets together for dinner, they discuss their day's

happenings and air any issues that are affecting them.

Generally, from the functional health patterns, the Walters engage in activities that

promote their well being. However, they need to take the exercise activities seriously and also

come up with better stress management methods. The assessment will help health care

professionals to assist the family in creating strategies to achieve wellness and health.

THE FORM AND FUNCTION OF THE FAMILY 7

References

Cohn, W. F., Ropka, M. E., Pelletier, S. L., Barrett, J. R., Kinzie, M. B., Harrison, M. B., ... &

Gibson, J. (2010). Health Heritage©, a web-based tool for the collection and assessment

of family health history: initial user experience and analytic validity. Public health

genomics, 13(7-8), 477-491.

Gordon, M. (2014). Manual of nursing diagnosis. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Huber, M., Knottnerus, J. A., Green, L., van der Horst, H., Jadad, A. R., Kromhout, D., ... &

Schnabel, P. (2011). How should we define health?. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 343.

Valdez, R., Yoon, P. W., Qureshi, N., Green, R. F., & Khoury, M. J. (2010). Family history in

public health practice: a genomic tool for disease prevention and health

promotion. Annual review of public health, 31, 69-87.