Family-Focused Functional Assessment

Answer

Family-Focused Functional Assessment

Each family has a unique culture, beliefs, and values regarding health and wellness. It is the nurse’s role to comprehend the unique outlook of different families and offer them precise and customized treatment plan in a way that appreciates their unique disposition, but likewise medically sound. This paper uses Gordon’s functional health pattern theory to assess Kotet’s Family by asking open-ended questions in eleven groupings.

Family Structure

Kotet's are an Arab-American family that lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Ahmed, the husband is a 30-year-old staff sergeant in the U.S Marine Corps, and the spouse Aisha is a 26-year-old journalist who is eight months pregnant with their first kid. They have been married to five years.

Values and Health Perception

The Kotet’s are committed Muslims who trust in Islam teachings and live a humble,tolerant, and respectful life. Kotet's follow the Islam pillars which include praying five times daily and reading the Quran. Ahmed and Aisha's beliefs to not interfere with their access to healthcare. The two have a family doctor and Aisha always attends her ante-natal care check-ups. The Kotet's rate their general health as good and have no chronic sickness history. Ahmed working in the marine means he must undertake physical testing regularly and maintain a high health standard. Also, being pregnant with their first kid, Aisha attends her pre-natal care appointments to help detect likely concerns early and minimize the risk of pregnancy and birth complications.

Nutrition

The Kotet’s are Muslims and so they do not eat any food perceived as haram/unclean like pork. Likewise, the Quran forbids drinking intoxicating drinks like beer or wine. Their nutrition definition is eating foods rich in vitamins and minerals. Ahmed enjoys eating meat three times a week, mostly steak in accompaniment with vegetables and rice. Aisha enjoys eating seafood four times a week, with mixed greens, rice, fruits, and nuts. The couple drinks lots of water, milk and home-made fruit juices. But Aisha being pregnant, she confesses to having some ‘unhealthy’ cravings that she engages in which comprise of marble cake, ice-cream, and French fries. Aisha started taking pre-natal vitamins early in her pregnancy and still takes them in her third trimester.

Sleep and Rest

The Kotet's normally sleeps eight to ten hours daily. Due to his military responsibilities, Ahmed wakes up between 4 am and 5 am every day. Because of waking up early, it implies that the couple bedtime is normally right after their night prayers around 8 Pm. Because of Aisha's pregnancy, she gets sporadic sleep at night. Aisha clarifies this by stating “When I want to sleep, the baby begins kicking in there and I stay awake for almost two to three hours".  When Aisha is awake, she normally walks in the living room to quiet the baby's movements as she has read from books and learned from her helpful Doula classes (Edelman,  Mandle, & Kudzma, 2017). Aisha concurs that it normally works. Apart from the baby kicking, she occasionally wakes at night to use the washroom. Apart from that, the family has no sleep problems. 

Elimination

Aisha says that in the first trimester, she struggled with constipation. Her doctor accredited this to Aisha’s initial anxiety concerning her pregnancy. The doctor advised her to increase her intake of foods rich in fiber. Likewise, Aisha has some problems with incontinenceof urine, however, the doctor clarified that it is because of the pregnancy and it should not stay a long-term problem after delivering.

Activity and Exercise

Ahmed plays tennis for an hour four times weekly and hits the gym twice weekly. The couple doe yoga together and for walks for one hour during weekends and evening hours.

Cognitive

The Kotet’s make decisions together about their finances, health, meal plans, and vacations. The Kotet's are pro-active in their medical appointments and check-ups. Ahmed jokes that they have a challenge deciding on the baby's name.  Aisha enjoys reading motivational books and listening to music while Ahmed enjoys writing short stories. The couple does not suffer from an absence of memory problems. 

Sensory Perception

The couple lack any vision or hearing problems. Aisha expressed some sensitivity to light and the doctor counseled her to have an eye-check-up to ascertain the likely cause.

Self-Perception

The couple has a positive self-image although they express that sometimes people judge them because of their Arab ancestry, which does not affect them. The couple support and encourage each other and both agree that they are proud of their heritage. Aisha is optimistic that after delivering, she will adapt to her new lifestyle as a mother and make necessary changes to fit the motherly role. 

Role Relationship

The couple makes decisions together concerning finances, discipline,vacation, and health matters. Ahmed assumed the family provides the role and the protector (Bomar, 2005). In the cultural and religious aspect, he believes that is his role to ensure family safety and he feels that this obligation is a git and not a burden. Aisha provides emotional support to him.

Sexuality

Kotet's discuss sexuality openly. The couple never shies away from kissing and holding hands. They maintain their healthy love life by having dinner dates, watching movies together, and doing some chores like dishwashing together. 

Coping

The couple uses a different coping mechanism in handling life stressors. They practice yoga and prayer. The couple also has their extended family as their support system to provide comfort and support during stressful situations.

Wellness Diagnosis

Based on the family data collected the Kotet’s fall under two wellness diagnosis classifications; i) Readiness for the improved child-bearing process, and ii) Readiness for the improved family process. The couple's healthy lifestyle, and Aisha’s decision to attend her doctor’s appointment and follow the doctor’s advice of taking pre-natal vitamins and maintain a healthy diet, place them in a good position of having a healthy and positive child delivery experience (Weber, 2013). Couples with following her Doula teachings will help Aisha experience a safe delivery. Likewise comprehending their present role in the relationship together with preparing to adopt new roles as parents make Kotet's ready for the improved family process. It will comprise of recognizing family objectives and articulate the enthusiasm to improve role in family dynamics, and having open and positive communication.

Conclusion

The Gordon assessment tool helped in collecting data to ascertain the health and wellness of Kotet’s family. The family had several strengths and health fostering behaviors like spirituality, love, open-communication, capacity to cope with stress, and consideration. The couple is eager to make changes to a new parental role when the child is born.