NUR212 Task 1b: Family Strengths and Healthcare Outcomes Reflection

This essay, written for a NUR212 assignment, explores the concept of family in contemporary society, highlighting the evolution of family structures and the impact of social changes. The author defines family and analyzes its strengths, including spiritual well-being, commitment, and security, and how these aspects influence healthcare practices and outcomes. The essay emphasizes the importance of family in providing support during medical adversities and contributing to the overall health of children and young people. The essay provides a reflection on how a family's strengths can positively influence healthcare practices. The author references relevant literature to support the arguments. The essay concludes by reiterating the significance of family structure and its strengths in modern society, emphasizing the importance of these strengths in healthcare settings.

Running Head: CHILD YOUTH AND FAMILY
Context of Practice: Child Youth and Family
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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CHILD YOUTH AND FAMILY
A family, in the simplest terms, can be defined as a set of people related by bloodline
or the bonds of marriage. The structure of a family can be myriad: It can be a married couple
living with their ward, or a single parent living with their children, or an elderly couple living
with their grandchildren, or an extended family living together with siblings, cousins, uncles,
aunts, parents and grandparents. In this essay, I will attempt to identify the concept of family
in the contemporary society, as well as analyse the framework of a family’s strengths and how
it is related to healthcare practices.
The basic structures and functions of families in the contemporary society remains the
same. However, social change is inevitable, and family is very much a part of that change as
these are that steps that transform into modern steps of society. The growing pace of lifestyle
has changed a number of things that were present in previous family cultures (Shah 2019).
While meals were earlier enjoyed together, the varying schedules of my parents and I have
resulted in us being available at different times for breakfast and dinner, while lunch is mostly
consumed outdoors, separately. Another contemporary issue that has come to my notice is the
gap in communication. This is mainly a result of smartphones and other digital devices, which
have reduced the time for and directness of face-to-face communication.
Earlier, families had a structure of economic dependence with the women and children
generally depending on the eldest male member for sustenance. However, women in modern
families have attained a vast degree of economic independence with a majority of married
women being employed outside their homes. With an increasing scope of earning money,
even young teenagers can no longer be completely economically dependent on their parents
any more.
A family structure is not devoid of its strengths. Among many of the strengths and
advantages a family structure provides its members, I would like to discuss about the spiritual

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well-being, commitment, and security. Spiritual well-being is one of the most intimate
safeguards that a family provides its members. It is essential for the family’s including each
member’s mental, emotional and physical health. Spirituality and faith of a family is closely
linked to its internal history, clture and beleifs and provides the primary energy for recovery
(Staff 2014).
According to Duncan and McLane (2019), Commitment is a binding agent necessary for any
societal structure or relationship. Be it the commitment between couples or the commitment
of parents towards the safety and well-being of their children or the commitment of
independent adults to take care of their aging parents: it is a strength without which a family
cannot exist. Commitment is built upon trust and reliability and is a trait that is also reflected
on the upbringing of children. Commitment to marriage and family among parents has been
associated with lesser conflict and behavioral issues with children (Cummings, Koss and
Davies 2015). It gives us a sense of assurance that we will have our families by our side, no
matter what the situation is.
The thought of home and family automatically instills in us a sense of security. Since
our birth, we are enveloped by the security provided to us by our parents and other elders.
Families not only provide physical and financial security but a state of mental and emotional
security as well. Parents working outside can feel assured that their young children are safe
with their grandparents or elder siblings. Children also get a sense of security when they have
someone in the family to share some bad or embarrassing incident that may have happened at
school (Raisingchildren.net 2019). A safe and secure family, where all its members can rest
assured, is what makes a house feel like a home.
Healthcare is an extremely essential factor that all families need to be well aware and
prepared about. Family healthcare involves general day-to-day well-being, healthy practices,

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precautions, taking care of sick and injured family members, as well as being able to handle
serious emergency medical situations, that may require external assistance. A family’s
strengths greatly influence its attitudes and norms towards healthcare practices (Walsh 2016).
For example, members of a family who are committed to one another will always be present
in the case of a medical adversity. Patients can feel a sense of security and recover faster if
they are assured that their family members are present for all kinds of support.
From this essay we can understand the importance and significance of a family
structure in contemporary society. Apart from the strengths I have discussed, there are a
number of other strengths a family possesses such as relationships, warmth, positivity and the
like. Every family, whatever be its structure, is defined by its strengths and the members that
form it.

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Reference List:
Cummings, E.M., Koss, K.J. and Davies, P.T., 2015. Prospective relations between family
conflict and adolescent maladjustment: Security in the family system as a mediating
process. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 43(3), pp.503-515.
Duncan, S. and McLane, K. (2019). Family Strengths: Commitment. [online]
Foreverfamilies.byu.edu. Available at: https://foreverfamilies.byu.edu/Pages/family-strengths-
commitment [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].
Raisingchildren.net (2019). Strong families: what they are, how they work. [online] Raising
Children Network. Available at: https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/family-life/routines-
rituals-relationships/strong-families [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].
Shah, S. (2019). Modern Family: What are main Features of a Modern Family?. [online]
Sociology Discussion - Discuss Anything About Sociology. Available at:
http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/family/modern-family-what-are-main-features-of-a-
modern-family/2324 [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].
Staff, C. (2014). Spiritual Well-Being. [online] Casa Palmera. Available at:
https://casapalmera.com/blog/spiritual-well-being/ [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].
Walsh, F., 2016. Family resilience: a developmental systems framework. European Journal of
Developmental Psychology, 13(3), pp.313-324.