The promotion of health care within the family is of great significance for general positive outcomes. Family health risks refer to the possible factors that can undermine the well-being of the family as one unit or the health of one member.
From the example provided, it is known that the nurse has been conducting the assessment for a young family with a baby. It is the task of the caregiver to identify potential risks with the help of the process of health risks appraisal. The nurse has found out that the father does not have the possibility to buy or rent new apartments. Their local neighborhood is not safe. Child development can be in danger due to this situation. The bad neighborhood can impact the development of child’s social skills and general health condition. Parents who are worried that the local area is not safe, may not allow children to go outdoors and play games. Such restrictions may lead to the increasing health vulnerability and psychological problems (Families and Communities n.d.). Besides, there can be a lack of healthy food or water in the poor neighborhood. The area can be polluted as well (Where We Live Matters for Our Health: Neighborhoods and Health n.d.). The housing of poor-quality, lack of necessary facilities, and unsafe conditions may become the causes of stress development in parents. Depressed parents influence child’s mental development (Cutrona, Wallace, & Wesner, 2006). Thus, it is clear that living in the unsafe neighborhood may lead to many health problems. Possible interventions for preventing risks should include visits by the nurse. There are also such programs as Medicare and Medicaid. Several volunteer programs exist in my community that help young families in overcoming difficulties.
Mary Isaacson (2014) dwells on the problems of ethnic and cultural inequalities in the health care environment in her article “Clarifying Concepts: Cultural Humility or Competence”. According to the author, the cultural competence is still a challenging task to accomplish. Though many nurses, especially senior nursing students, consider themselves culturally aware and not prejudiced, their working journals and nursing surveys prove that it is not so. People from different cultures continue to experience marginalization while receiving health care services. Isaacson writes that the number of immigrants in the US rises. As a result, the number of ethnic minorities is growing too. It is necessary to prepare specialists who are aware of the notion of cultural competence and multiculturalism.
The concept of multiculturalism has been introduced in the 1960s. The term was used for the description of the providing equal services and social justice for all people regardless of race, gender, culture, or age. It is also called transcultural approach to nursing. This method was included in the educational programs. It was aimed to teach the new generation of nurses to provide health care services at the advanced level (Pharris & Bosher, 2008). Currently, innovative suggestions to minimize marginalization focus on the necessary preparation of students. Thus, the primary goal is to prepare nurses to be culturally competent. The notion of cultural competence presupposes providing healthcare services on the basis of the cultural context of the patient. Thus, culture should be used not as the way to discriminate patient in any way (even unintentionally). T the key that assists in finding the most appropriate approach to the treatment (Dean, 2010).
References
Cutrona, C., Wallace, G., & Wesner, K. (2006). Neighborhood Characteristics and Depression. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(4), 188-192.
Dean, R. (2010). Cultural Competence. Nursing for Women’s Health, 14(1), 50-60. Families and Communities. (n.d.). Web.
Isaacson, M. (2014). Clarifying Concepts: Cultural Humility or Competence. Journal of Professional Nursing, 30(3), 251-258.
Pharris, M., & Bosher, S. (2008). Transforming Nursing Education. New York, USA: Springer Publishing Company.
Where We Live Matters for Our Health: Neighborhoods and Health. (n.d.). Web.