Family in Health Care: Role and Importance in Contemporary Society

This article discusses the concept and role of family in family health care practices. It highlights the importance of family members in decision making in health care and how family strength concepts can be integrated in health care. The article also emphasizes the impact of family structure on the well-being of a child.

FAMILY IN HEALTH CARE
FAMILY IN HEALTH CARE
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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FAMILY IN HEALTH CARE
Reflection on concept of family as it is reflected in contemporary society
In the career of the nurses and the midwives, the families play a huge role in assisting
them to improve both the physical and the mental wellbeing of mother and child. In this writing
piece I will be discussing about the concept and the role of the family in family health care
practices. Taking decisions can be difficult and overwhelming at times (Kuo et al. 2015). The
issues are sometimes complex and involve complexities which we are not accustomed to face
with every day. When we are dealing with child health, we face many decisions and not only
about the treatments and the tests (Palermo and Holley 2013).
In my academic career as a nurse and dealing with children, I have found that they are
often afraid to take up any treatment regimen that can be due to the fear of getting hurt or due to
the unfamiliar faces of the doctors. For example, a little boy Jack was referred for a tracheostomy
due to the chronic lung disease. The tracheostomy tube was dislodged for a considerable number
of times and the little boy was in considerable pain. Jack's father suggested that he would hold
the tube for him (Van Keer et al. 2013). The tracheostomy tube was successfully held. There are
several other cases like where family have played a huge role in the treatment.
Feelings
In the example which I have stated in the description, I can clearly realize that Jack feels
protected in presence of his father and is sure that nothing cannot harm him as long his father is
there. Similarly I also feel that, family, especially the father have an impact on the pregnancy and
the infant outcomes. With such repeated experiences I had felt that Families have a powerful
effect on the wellbeing of an individual. While going through literatures I have found that many
of the researchers have recognized the important roles of the families in influencing the life style
factors as well as the gate keepers of the health care system. In many such incidents I have
witnessed how the collaborative and partnership has helped in the recovery of the patients (Shor
et al. 2013). I feel that it is the trust between the patient and the family that keeps on things going
accordingly.
Evaluation

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Previously my knowledge regarding the role of the family in health care and wellbeing of
the patient when in a hospital setting was limited but with the progression of my academic
career, the learning of the nursing standards and in-hand experiences or confrontation with the
patient’s family has led me to believe their role. I have often witnessed conflicts in the multi
ethnic health care setting settings where I was concerned about the fact that do we actually have
to listen to the family when we are taking some decisions for a family, since health care
professionals are the one who have to actually deal with critical medical situations. However an
in depth brain storming on the topic of family, as a center of health development has
strengthened by belief on the role of families in health care.
Analysis
Family is the primary institution of organization in society. It provides the milieu where
the individuals are born, nurtured, taught to socialize and where the behavior of an individual
takes shape. According to the researches when fathers are involved in pregnancy, the negative
health behaviors of the mother and the risks of restrictions on the fetal growth, preterm birth and
low birth rate are decreased considerably (Alio et al. 2015). Thus validating the fact that family
members plays a central role in decision making in health care. The family members influence
the health habits of each other. Both the exercise and the eating routines are learned at home
(Palermo and Holley 2013). Similarly the families can also support changes for unhealthy
behavior. For example, I have found that involving parents where diets or exercise pattern needs
adjusting, have significantly improved the long term results. In order to communicate with the
family or the child a positive communication style is required (Barnes et al. 2013).
I have often witnessed that caring for a child having chronic health issues or mental
health problems can be stressful and increased family stress and greater use of health can
translate higher costs for both the families and the society. Researchers have shown that family
centered interventions are highly effective in dealing with child health problems, for example
providing families with education, support or the therapy. I have often seen that without the
attention of the family members many children might not recover. It is the family members that
play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of children. Access to the medical service
and decisions regarding when to seek the medical help is also a family issue. There are six major
qualities present in a strong family- Appreciation and affection, Commitment, positive

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communication, spiritual wellbeing, enjoyable time spend together, spiritual wellbeing, shared
values, appreciation and affection (Brown et al.2015). It is the family structure that affects the
wellbeing of a child to a great level. According to some reports the nowadays most of the
children resides with the traditional nuclear families with no grandparents and sibling which
greatly affects the social capital. The sibling composition have faced with certain academic
disadvantages displayed by the teens in the step families. Thus family framework and complexity
is largely associated to the well-being of a child (Brown et al.2015). Due to this family beliefs
and perception about the health care choices are important. This is how the family strengths
framework strengthens the wellbeing of patients.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that mental wellbeing of a person is based on the attachment
that a patient has with its family. It has been found that children growing up in disrupted families
are more likely to suffer from both physical and mental health related disorders. Furthermore
parental presence during hospital related procedures have found to have reduced stress or anxiety
in children. Hence, it can be seen how the family matters in health care procedures.
Action plan
 Family strength concepts can be integrated in health care by the following ways-
 Identification of the strengths and giving feedback to the family members or seeking
feedback of the family members (Bracht et al. 2013).
 Helping the family members to develop strengths (Bracht et al. 2013).
 Calling forth the family strengths for achieving the goals or for solving the problems.
 Integration of spirituality in the plan of care can assist the family in coping with the
health and the psychosocial adversities.
 Informed decision making with the families.

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References
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