The case study family (CSF) is between the ages of five and thirty-five years and consists of a father, a mother, and two male children. The father is a construction worker, while the mother is a cook. The mother is currently pregnant and expectant of another child. However, the incomes are not adequate to take care of the essential family needs such as food and giving the children quality education. Additionally, the parents face unfavorable working conditions, and the family lives in an unsafe neighborhood posing social threats such as insecurity and violence. Therefore, this paper examines the potential risks that may cause stress in the CSF and the neighboring vulnerable community and provides ideas on reducing the risk factors. In addition, it describes a teaching plan for the same.
According to my analysis, the identified potential stressors, according to their ranking, include inadequate finances, lack of access to food, health risks, and drug and substance abuse. My rationale behind the ranking is the impact of the risks on the family and the community. Financial problems impact physical health and the overall condition of a family, such as the ability to access proper healthcare, food, and other social services (Friedline et al., 2021).
The risk with the second most significant effect is lack of access to food. It causes hunger and leads to nutrition-related health challenges such as obesity, overweight, and other diseases. Depending on certain individual features, obesity can also, to variable degrees, aggravate chronic stress (Tester et al., 2020). People who face stigma, such as those who are overweight, are known to be more stressed out and have higher long-term cortisol levels (Tester et al., 2020). The third is health challenges, which can cause dire consequences such as death, stigma, and productivity. It also causes financial constraints due to the necessary medical expenses (Lazar & Davenport, 2018). The last one is drug and substance abuse. It can cause health-related stress, conflicts, violence, theft, and stigma.
In my case study, family and their vulnerable population or community, four potential risks could contribute to their stress. Firstly, there is a lack of financial resources to buy food due to low-income jobs. Secondly, the family suffers from a lack of access to food or food insecurity due to inadequate financial resources. Thirdly, the family faces health challenges, an outstanding case being obesity. Lastly, there is the risk of drugs and substance abuse. The father of the family is an addicted smoker. In addition, the family lives in an unsafe neighborhood which promotes terrible behaviors such as drug addiction.
In order to address the four potential risks that could contribute to stress in my CSF and their vulnerable population/community, I have developed the following teaching plan to provide awareness on the matters to the community.
When the ideas mentioned above are properly executed, there will be a tremendous reduction in stress issues among the CSF and their neighboring vulnerable community. Stressors can be acute or persistent and different in size and shape. Severe trauma, substantial life upheavals, daily inconveniences, and other situations where a person is routinely exposed to hazard, difficulty, or danger are examples of what they can be.
In conclusion, my teaching plan design contains the teaching’s objective and goals, the expected outcomes, and the materials required for the teaching. In addition, the teaching plan contains ideas on how to address each potential risk factor and reduce the stress from the factors. Some of the motivation elements include using visual teaching methods such as YouTube videos and giving awards to the participating families. By addressing the potential stressors, I am providing social support to the affected families, consequently making them feel less worried and more capable of coping.
References
Friedline, T., Chen, Z., & Morrow, S. P. (2021). Families’ financial stress & well-being: The importance of the economy and economic environments. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 42(1), 34-51. Web..
Lazar, M., & Davenport, L. (2018). Barriers to health care access for low-income families: A literature review. Journal of community health nursing, 35(1), 28–37. Web.
Tester, J. M., Rosas, L. G., & Leung, C. W. (2020). Food insecurity and pediatric obesity: A double whammy in the era of COVID-19. Current obesity reports, 9(4), 442-450. Web.
Vujanovic, A. A., Wardle, M. C., Bakhshaie, J., Smith, L. J., Green, C. E., Lane, S. D., & Schmitz, J. M. (2018). Distress tolerance: Associations with trauma and substance cue reactivity in low-income, inner-city adults with substance use disorders and posttraumatic stress. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32(3), 264. Web.