Family Assessment
Interviewing the selected family was able to illuminate their specific views on health in general along with their particular views on all the specific factors and tenets of health. Just as every family is different, this certain level of differentness can manifest through distinct perspectives on health and various manifestation of health behavior. I interviewed the Gomez family; the parents of the family both came to America when they were under the age of ten. Their three children were born here. Thus, there is a certain amount of push and pull in the family with traditional Mexican values and more modern and Western American values, when it comes to health (Peterson, 2013).
When it comes to their values and their perception of health these aspects tend to be more over-simplified. The entire family just views health as the absence of disease: this is problematic because the entire family appears to be overweight and somewhat lethargic, but they generally view themselves as healthy simply because they possess the absence of disease. This is simply not a nuanced or terribly accurate version of health. Furthermore, when it comes to nutrition, the family needs all the help they can get. They appear to have no understanding of nutrition, or the importance of fruits and vegetables, thinking that nearly every food possesses the same nutritional value. It practically seems as if the family believes that if something is edible, it is also nutritious. This is extremely problematic as the family seems to consume a diet of starchy carbs, sugary drinks, fatty meats and on occasion, over-boiled vegetables. The only servings of fruit that the family seems to ingest are via sugary fruit juices and occasionally canned fruit cocktail. There's a tremendous amount about the family's diet that needs to be corrected.
The family has mixed views on the importance of sleep and rest. For example, the mother of the family is the only one who seems to keep to a regular, and health sleep schedule of eight hours. The children are often allowed to stay up much later than they should, with no permanent...
The father keeps to a regular schedule but sometimes only averages six hours or less of sleep per night. Another area that the family needs to absolutely improve upon is in the realm of proper elimination. Complaints of chronic constipation are something which resound throughout the family and are things that multiple members complain of. Their complaints of constipation do not come at any surprise, of course. The family consumes a diet which is practically devoid of fiber. Each member should be eliminating three times a day. However, they think that they're regular if they eliminate once a day. This is another example of their rather skewed perception of health. Moreover, it's not just their unhealthy diet which contributes to a poor elimination schedule. Instead, it's the combination of the poor nutrition, bad sleep schedule, and the lack of exercise which makes their digestive system so sluggish (Cox, 2013).
The children are the only members of the family who receive regular aerobic exercise. They have a 30-minute gym class each day. However, the children are still at least 15 pounds or more overweight. They need more exercise and less time spent in front of a screen. They also need a major re-vamping of their nutritional plan so that they embrace something which is healthier and more nuanced. The father works as a manager at a major electronics retailer. He is on his feet all day long, so he's actually getting plenty of cardio: he just needs to factor in strength-training. If he were to factor in strength training and a more nutritious diet, he would be in drastically better health. The mother of the family works as a nurse: she too is on her feet all day long and should factor in strength training and a better diet. Her diet might be the poorest of all members of the family: she is constantly besieged with sweets, cookies, donuts and other empty-calories at her workplace.
When it comes to cognitive health, the children are definitely the ones who have a superior advantage when compared to everyone else. Both the children are in school full-time and are having…
