Genogram: Understanding Family Health History and Relationships

This article discusses the importance of genograms in understanding family health history and relationships. It analyzes information from a genogram and ecomap of Jean Campbell and St-Francis family, providing insights into their health conditions and relationships. The article also covers family trends, selection, and events, and how they impact family dynamics. The subject of the article is Family Health, and there is no specific course code, course name, college, or university mentioned.

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Introduction
In understanding a family, it is imperative to study its health history; this is because the
genetic factors associated with them may contribute too many diseases and conditions. The aim
is to ensure the family members at risk to be identified early and their genetic information
collected and analyzed correctly for lasting solutions. There are some diseases for example colon
cancer, coronary artery disease, and depression/anxiety are very prevalent in some families more
than others (16). It is salient that one understands hereditary family conditions for risk of these
diseases can be an incentive for taking screening tests or having to make behavioral changes
which would help reduce the impact of the outcomes (14). Genograms and family history and
ecomap assessment tools can assist the caregivers, personalities, and families in obtaining
information for example diagnosis, severity, the age of onset and more importantly the ensuing
relationship with the affected. This paper aims to analyze information gotten from Genogram and
ecomap of Jean Campbell and St- Francis family having an in-depth look at a three-generation
relationship and their health conditions. The interview was conducted with Sean, the third
generation from Haiti but was raised up in the states.
Genogram
A genogram is generally a multi-generational diagram examining one's family; it assists
one to view multiple relationship dynamics paying close observance to trends to review
developmental influence and brings out possible health trends (13). These tools are used by the
medical practitioners and researchers in assisting them to identify medical risk factors. The
information that is gotten after creating an ecomap is used in offering treatments (planning)
targeting developed, underdeveloped or unhealthy relationships (16). An ecomap may also be a

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useful tool in examining factors for example environment or socioeconomic status influence that
is the family functioning and development.
Analysis
In conducting the family genogram, it constitutes myself Maha and I exhibit love to all
my family members. I suffer allergies and I developed laparoscopic Cholecystectomy. My father
Youif is very close to me but he suffers High blood pressure. My paternal grandfather and
mother are both deceased without any medical records of any disease. Ahmed my father’s
brother is deceased and aunt is alive but suffering diabetes, physical disability and has high blood
pressure. My father’s sister Myriam is my aunt in distrust and she suffers high blood pressure,
cancer and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Fatma, who is my father’s sister is deceased and also
Amira my aunt is deceased.
Nora who is my father and a very close person in my life is alive but suffers high blood
pressure, diabetes, allergies and physical disability. Attallah is my maternal grandfather is
deceased as well as Modallah my maternal grandmother. They have no traces of any diseases.
Ghazalah my aunt who happens to be my mother’s sister with close relationship that is
harmonious suffers from high blood pressure as well as laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Mohammed who is married to my aunt is deceased without any trace of diseases. Hameed who is
my brother and a close person to me but has some traces of violence underwent open heart
surgery and he suffers from high blood pressure. Hakeem my brother is also very close to me
but also is violent. He suffers high blood pressure. Naser is also my brother and a close relative
who suffers diabetes and high blood pressure. Hanan is my sister and a very close relative. She
suffers cancer and high blood pressure. Mony is my sister that is very close but she suffers

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allergies. Nisreen and Sabreen are my sisters with Sabreen being very close to me but has no
traces of any diseases with Nisreeen.

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In many families, there are potential strengths as well as weaknesses. A significant
portion of every family is their dynamic relationships characterized their existing close
relationship. In the ecomap, it is evident that the family has a close relationship that subsists
within the family unit (13).
Conclusion
The medical practitioners for example nurses can use the Campbell’s family genogram
and ecomap tools in prescribing a comprehensive health assessment and enumerate potential
factors that may affect his health. This is in disregard to the fact that the accuracy of genogram is
based on perspective and preceding memories of a person creating it. There is evidence that
making use of Eco map and genogram tools of assessment can assist to enhance intervention
strategy and communication in a patient’s record (Smith, 2016). It can help in coming up with a
treatment plan, care provision, prevention, and health promotion.
Family Trends
In an existing genogram, family structure impacts hugely for the ensuing risk for abuse.
The best example is a single parent household, mostly due to lack of fatherhood presence. The
risk of abuse is compounded in those families where there are a father, non-family members and
the presence of the entire family. It has been noted that families that face domestic violence they
have 30% to 60% risk of suffering. Other factors have been termed as environmental for example
poverty, living in high crime areas have also been potential predisposing factors to abuse. Stress
and dynamic factors and scarcity of social services foster an environment for violence.

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Family structures entail those people that are considered to be part of the family. They
are the present individuals coupled with the past figures of the family including the quality of
relationships that dictates their existence. This information is salient as it does identify the
individuals that should be included in an assessment. The subsisting relations and the sources of
the elders support connote the flashpoints of potential conflicts. This is well captured in the
construction of a genogram. A genogram is set as a visual representation of the composition of a
family, relationships, structure and is presented using set standard symbols that thus depict the
family. Nevertheless, there is no sub-optimal family structure, and a genogram has the capability
of providing preliminary as well as valuable information concerning essential personalities in the
family and their relationships.
Genograms are most important as they are useful in nearly all professions. They deal in
coming up with patterns of hereditary coupled with their psychological issues. They are able to
study behavior with their social interactions. Medical genograms enable the doctors to evaluate a
patient’s health risks. The doctor’s knowledge of a patient's pre-existing health conditions helps
them in making the accurate diagnosis and having an accurate treatment program. A patient
knowing their lineage diseases and illnesses can assist them to have a head-start in taking
preventive measures. In having sufficient details of four generations is sufficient for accurate
predictions.
The genograms give the emotional bonds that subsist among individuals that form a
social unit or a family. It acts as an assessment tool that measures the cohesiveness of a family to
determine the proper care which is needed. Thus, it gives invaluable information to a health
practitioner. The family counselors get a starting point in explaining family dynamics to a person
undergoing family therapy. Genealogists use them in documenting complex family trees that

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include marriages, divorces, adoption and strained relationships. It can give exciting information
including naming patterns, significant events, and rivalry.
Family Selection
Family structures and their manner vary across many cultures and marriages. The
selection of a partner becomes an integral process and a universal phenomenon. The criteria for
selection evolve from the rules of normative frameworks and their related psychological
orientations that are prevalent in different cultural contexts. In having a comprehensive
understanding of the processes and different phases of partner selection, it is essential that there
should be a merge of the elements, phases and the processes. The best example is integrating the
evolutionary and social psychological perspectives (17).
Family Events
The changes that occur in the family structure presents a nodal point that has significant
impacts on the life of a child. In many of life events like the death of a parent or a grandparent
are likely to result to predictable consequences in the life of a sibling and they can give a social
worker to offer timely guidance. The particular structure of such a family with the resources at
their disposal is a better predictor or whether the parent and consequently the kid will be able to
navigate these rocky shoals (13).
Alcohol use among adults has been studied for long, and there is significant evidence that
shows that non-intact family status is associated with increased risk for drinking. In other
instances, it has been shown that there is a higher risk in their drinking.

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There are ecological theories that have shown that the context of the physical
environment goes a long way in determining the genogram of a family. The model, in general, is
not deterministic but it has many similarities to the ensuing community and individuals in a
family set up can determine the genogram of their family. The number of wives and the dowry
system are also factors that determine a genogram (12, 17).
In the development stages of children, the constellation of the family structure can affect
the relationship of the father with the children. Thus, the nature of father’s involvement is
affected (13). During pregnancy, the father’s role is secondary, but the chances of their
involvement have a chance of changing in the future. As the roles of the father become like it is
disciplining, it gradually changes into different spheres as the roles changes to different elements
and across circumstances (8).
Many individuals usually pass themselves to their kin people. The things they pass can
either be beautiful or valuable for example they can pass stories, culture, and belongings. Other
characteristics are unique in nature like cowlick and green eyes (15). There are other insidious
characters like the genetic predisposition to depression and addiction. Other traits are passed
down through unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving.
Genograms are able to make people be able to examine patterns for a family set up. They
make the family systems to be out in the open, and the physicians are able to determine their
strengths and weaknesses (20). They are the foundations for setting up generational strengths and
weaknesses. They are always structurally similar to a family tree, but their purpose is different.
The genogram provides information pertaining to relationships and interactions among family
members. While the family tree only gives the lineage of a family.

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A genogram is a more valuable tool when it carries information about several
generational. Patterns in a genogram sometimes are hard to decipher, and they can be mapped at
the paper (19). In a genogram a trend of marital problems can show family history, the best thing
with a genogram is that it can even highlight patterns like aloofness and anger which are mostly
the cause of marital problems (17). In the construction of it, one uses a combination of rules and
symbols.

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