Family health assessments amplify both family-centered and individual-centered healthcare delivery. Through these assessments, medical practitioners can design personalized care plans that incorporate family dynamics and individual behaviors (Christalle et al., 2019). Assessment findings guide nurses in deciding where to concentrate on elevating the members’ health status (Calatrava et al., 2022). This paper aims to outline the health patterns and dynamics of the Lara-Watts family. The analysis spans from the description of the structure, and health status, including behaviors, patterns, challenges, and the suitable family theory for enhancing the family’s health.
Family Structure
Lara-Watts family results from the union of Marty and Mike in 2013 in New Mexico. Their family comprises six members. Marty is 49 years old, while Mike is aged 51. The children are Stephanie, Andre, Chase, and Clayton, aged 29, 14, 9, and 7, respectively. Lara-Watts family members are from diverse backgrounds, with Marty being Caucasian while Mike is Hispanic. The two are homosexual and love their family even though none of the children is biologically theirs. Clayton is Caucasian, while Andre and Chase are bi-racial. Stephanie, Marty and Mike’s eldest daughter, and a half-sister to Andre, is the mother of Chase and Clayton. Lara-Watts family subscribes to non-denominational Christianity and acknowledges other people’s religious choices. Marty has been teaching for six years, while Mike has made it his responsibility to help people struggling with alcohol. Additionally, Marty serves as the CEO of a flourishing tax service business. Family and relationship roles are distributed based on age, capabilities, and earnings.
Health Assessment Findings
Lara-Watts family members are interested in learning about their health and medical diagnosis for self-care purposes. Marty and Mike have a shared role in the family, with Marty being the main financial provider and taking care of the family’s well-being. Both parents have mental illnesses: PTSD, major depression, and Bipolar type I. Additionally, the two have vision issues; thus, they are on optical glasses. Mike has had prostate cancer twice and has incontinence due to the radiation treatment; he uses a sphincter pump to help with urinary leakage. He has had multiple back surgeries, including gastric sleeve surgery. Clayton, the youngest in the family, has issues with bladder control because of his ADHD. Therefore, as inferable from the response to the interview questionnaire, the family is motivated to lead a healthy life.
Nutrition
The family usually eats a balanced dinner consisting of baked chicken with rice or pasta, broccoli, and garden salad. In their listing, water and soda were among their daily drinks, while burgers and fries comprise their weekend food intake. Mike has undergone gastric sleeve surgery, which makes him very strict with the family regarding food choices. Marty is allergic to tree nuts, but this does not limit the other members from eating nuts if they are careful with Mike’s restrictions of strictly keeping their nut-based products from Marty. The family minimizes sugar and starches in their intake to aid Mike with his weight loss journey. On the question of whether the family read nutritional labels, Marty affirmed, stating that they always carefully review to make healthy choices, more so for the children who need to be energized for their activities in sports
Sleep/Rest and Elimination
Sleep is significant for individual health. It rests the body and helps maintain a balance in the efficacy of various body systems (Gulia & Kumar, 2020). In the Lara-Watts family, adults sleep four to six hours while children sleep eight to ten hours daily. Children’s bedtime ranges from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm. The family also reported that both Marty and Mike have sleep apnea, with the former experiencing night terrors due to past military experiences. Every family member has a regular bowel movement, and when anyone experiences constipation, they deal with it through natural laxatives such as apple or prune juices. As reported earlier, Mike experiences incontinence and urinary leakage issues. The 7-year-old Clayton has ADHD.
Activity/Exercise and Cognitive
Exercise is essential in the Lara-Watts family, where everyone except Mike is physically active. Mike’s inactivity results from his health conditions, having undergone multiple back surgeries and cancer treatment, though he would wish to be involved. Marty walks 10000 steps daily while the three boys are active in soccer. The family enjoys routine soccer practices and games three to four times weekly. In cognitive assessment, it surfaced that Mike has an AAS and is pursuing his BS. Marty holds a master’s degree in teaching, while Chase and Clayton are in their 2nd grade. Andre is in 8th grade. Clayton’s ADHD is the only learning challenge in this family.
Sensory Perception
Assessment of sensory perception is vital in healthcare. The goals of conducting sensory perception tests were to establish the ability to perceive bilateral and unilateral stimuli and get information from them (Wilson & Giddens, 2021). As stated in the overall health status, the parents wear optical glasses. All members can perceive sensory stimuli and describe the pain as a way through which the body communicates that something is wrong. When in pain, the family often opts for meditation and OTC drugs such as Tylenol and Advil to relieve pain.
Self-Perception, Coping, and Sexuality
Mike and Marty perceive their union as a successful and well-blended homosexual couple, which results in a happy and loving family. They believe individual perception matters and that they are delighted their immediate families accepted their sexuality. Having received unanimous acceptance and tolerance from their family and the community dynamics, they are proud as a homosexual couple. Community support and group activities play a role in stress management and coping (McKimmie et al., 2019). Mike is a member of the AA group and participates in swim training classes. All children are active in their children’s PTO. The primary coping mechanisms in the Lara-Watts family include attending community groups such as the AA meeting for Mike, church, and family meditation. When dealing with stress, the family implements principles Mike and Marty learn in their AA community group meetings. They believe in honest dialogue to address misunderstandings and face stressors head-on through holistic approaches, not short-sighted conjecture.
Functional Health Strength and Health Problems
The major functional health strengths in the Lara-Watts family include exercising regularly, implementing AA principles in coping with stress, and observing nutritional needs based on every member’s health status. On the other hand, major health problems include Mike’s and Marty’s mental illnesses and the incontinence experienced by Mike. The noted mental diseases in the family include PTSD, major depression, and Bi-Polar type I. Another major health challenge is Clayton’s ADHD condition.
Family System Theory and Application
The family systems theory stipulates that to understand a person effectively, there is a need to examine the family because of the interconnection and interdependence between the members, which impacts health. In healthcare, providing personal and family-centered care necessitates the understanding of family because the members have a role in the health and well-being of one another (Milberg et al., 2020). Based on this theory, the Lara-Watts family should continue supporting each other health-wise and in their daily activities since this impacts their well-being. It is worth recommending that this family make physical exercise a family activity and have regular talks about showing love and sharing their challenges and progress. This way, they can unanimously work together to understand every aspect of the family and get more attached.
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