Family Analysis

FAMILY ANALYSIS
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Introduction
A family is the basic unit of the society. If one member of the family falls ill, all the entire family is affected following that illness. Therefore, the concept of a family does not refer only to people who are biologically related but also includes people who play a significant role in individual’s life. In this wider context the family hence can include two or more people of the same or differing sexes staying together either sexually attached or not, families brought up by single parents, remarried families having both stepchildren and children, finally many other forms of families. All these types of families comprise of one thing in common, which is a profound sense of connection and kinship whether it’s biological or based on psychological.
Interaction and health of a family
In a family, there exists the social context where illness occurs. The communication among members of the family unit plays a greater deal of the members’ happiness and health. The functioning of a family also has a more significant influence on its member’s health as well as how those individuals will react to illnesses. It forms a social network from which a patient can derive the identity having strong psychological bonds, and in which each has got a particular role (Streiner, Norman, & Cairney, 2014).
Despite, all that, not all families have the same approach to the illness of their members or have the same structure and style in the family setup.

The health experts can, therefore, play a critical role in observing who the patient of the family talks to a lot, what are the views of the family members towards the patient and what the reaction of the patient is when family members come to visit. The whole concept behind this is to be able to identify what are the sources of stress the family members are experiencing now, before the illness and how this current illness is affecting the normal functioning of the household (Gelman, Carlin, Stern, & Rubin, 2014).
Life stages of a family
According to Durkheim (2014), families have stages in life that are identifiable, during which specific tasks in a family are to be a point of focus. Illness in the household and the ability on how the family responds to it depends on the part of the family life stage. Various life stages in the family, and the tasks they can do is as discussed below:
First, we have early married life in a family. They can handle and come up with a satisfying marriage. A satisfying marriage means a stable marriage where both couples are stabilizing both love and financial aspects. There is a clear existence of understanding between the partners and mutual agreements being made on matters pertaining the marriage. At this stage when there is an outbreak of an illness it affects the family to high disruption levels and makes it strain too much since it is not stable (Cockerham, 2014).
Second, we have the bearing of kids in the family. There is an adjustment to become parents and how to raise the infants. They are supposed to be brought up in a way that when they grow up they respect others and be obedient. Mostly at this stage, the family is mostly likely to be affected by the illness of the infants. Proper immunization should be done since it forms a basis for the generation to come. With a good foundation, it stipulates that the generation will be healthy.
Third, the pre-school stage for a family is a stage where they nurture them in a way that promotes growth. Here children are exposed to different types of illness especially ones associated with sanitation. They are curious to taste everything in their life, and they may contract illness such as typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea. It a specific stage where kids are aged at 2.5 to 5 years old (Abidin, 2011).
Fourth, is the school aged family comprising of kids aged between 5 to 13 years. Many Children at this stage are at the age of learning how to socialize and interacting with others, and also the parents here play a vital role in educating them. A lot of illness happen, and the kids should be in a position to understand the importance of exercising and doing some fitness activities. It helps them to keep fit and avoid illnesses that may affect them in maturity.
Fifth, is the family comprising of teenagers. At this stage, we have the balancing of freedom with the responsibilities bestowed on them. The family is faced with diseases such as HIV and AIDS. Since the teenagers are mostly involved with a lot of experimentation, pre-mature sexual activities occur and families are affected with sexually transmitted infections which might cost a family a big fortune of money.
Sixth, the stage of launching a family. The young adults are set free to the world, and they help to maintain a home base that is supported with their efforts. Parents of these adults are subjected to enjoying the benefits that come from their kids whom they have struggled to bring up. The family here might have a positive response to any illness that may arise. Since the adults have gotten out and having some jobs, hence they can sustain the family needs.
Second, the stage where a family life has middle-aged parents. The family parents are involved with rekindling and rebuilding of their marriage relationship. They have invested in their children, and they are now focusing on themselves having laid a good background and foundation for the family. Here the response to illness is dependent on the status of the household whether it will be positive or negative.
Lastly, we have an aging family. Here the family is to make adjustments to the retirement, and after the retirement, the stage that follows is that after the parents retire there is preparation for the death of spouses. Here the elderly parents are faced with aging diseases. For instance, pain in the spinal cords. The adult children are supposed to take care of the aging parents and ensure they are on a proper diet. In such situation, a lot of financial and care should be offered to the parents in order to avoid psychological conditions that might affect them (Foucault, 2014).
The health experts should, therefore, realize that all families are not able to meet expectations that concur with involvement in the patient care and support. It all depends on the stage the family is in. At times the family maybe faced with conflicting responsibilities to handle. Such cases include; children for an elderly patient may not be able to carry out their obligations and at the same time be able to provide for their parents’ treatment recommendations. Additionally, not all patients get the support they need from their family members and at the same time not all family members are capable of coping up with long term illnesses in a family. If the family relationship previously had been strained then it means in such a situation of sickness more problems are caused than expected (Foucault, 2014).
Information about a family function, stress, and transition might not help a great deal during the preparation of a teaching plan that may act as an efficient tool between the family and the patient. To be more efficient with the patient you need to identify the family way of life and finding sustained means of trying to incorporate the recommendations required about the family than trying to come up with different patterns that might cause a lot of trouble to the household. Since some parents display a higher level of structures while others not hence this might appear to be in a constant state of chaos.
Parents’ attitude and support towards the patients display a greater impact on which patients will base on following health advice as compared to just the information that is presented by health experts. For example, a young mother who wishes to breastfeed their young one having the husband who is against it due to the claims of the figure and also other family members considering that, that act is out of date. It makes the mother unlikely to get the support she wants. In such cases, the intervention of a nurse to educate the husband and other family members at early stages to understand and support the act should be effected. The family also plays a role in influencing individuals about the severity of diseases and the both also the benefits and the costs of treatment. Since if there is a prescription of a certain drug and it fails to impact positively on the patient this may act as a barrier which is direct to the compliance of the patient.
Impact of the illness on the family
When a family is faced with serious disabilities or illness, the entire family operations are affected. Both members and the patient should be counseled since every person in that family has a particular role they play in its functioning. The disruption is to the entire family even if only one family member falls sick. When a member falls sick, it means the family will have to alter its lifestyle.
The sickness leads to additional economic problems and also cause career disruption and development. If the patients is a kid, then there will be more strain since the family has to meet the needs of the patient and also for the other kids. Illness during the middle age of the family may cause a lot of potential family turmoil. In most cases, it affects the adolescent family. For the later stages of a family that is affected by the disease, it may impact on both the older couples and also the grown children. Since they had anticipated enjoying together but now they can’t for one another because of their physical limitations that come with aging. Long stable illness may have changed to the family relationship even if the family might be stable and supportive (Foucault, 2014).
Conclusion
A family is comprised of different classes namely; the unstable, the stable and the high- end family. The aging of parents differs according to the various stages of life. The illness in a family causes a change in lifestyle no matter the duration of an illness. Hence, the impact is dependent on the marital status, the more stable, the less the impact and the more the unstable, the higher the impact.
Reference
Abidin, R. R. (2011). Parenting stress index-short form. Charlottesville, VA: Pediatric Psychology Press.
Durkheim, E. (2014). The rules of sociological method: and selected texts on sociology and its method. Simon and Schuster.
Cockerham, W. C. (2014). Medical sociology. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Gelman, A., Carlin, J. B., Stern, H. S., & Rubin, D. B. (2014). Bayesian data analysis (Vol. 2). Boca Raton, FL, USA: Chapman & Hall/CRC.
Foucault, M. (2014). The politics of health in the eighteenth century. Foucault Studies, (18), 113-127.
Streiner, D. L., Norman, G. R., & Cairney, J. (2014). Health measurement scales: a practical guide to their development and use. Oxford University Press, USA.