Family Health Assessment: Patterns, Risks, and Strengths

Introduction and Overview of the Family

For this family health assessment, I interviewed a family of four made up of a husband and wife with two children ages nine and twelve. Almost immediately, I noticed a discrepancy between health self-perceptions and health actions: the wife identified the family as being very healthy but noted that the husband smoked, although he was "trying to stop." The fact that he is trying to stop — and that the family is supporting him in this goal — is heartening. However, it should be noted that smoking cessation is extremely difficult. If the husband continues smoking, he risks modeling unhealthy behaviors for the young children in the family as well as exposing all family members to secondhand smoke. Smoking places the father at risk for heart disease, lung cancer, and general ill health. Overall, the family showed a clear discrepancy between actual behaviors in the household and their perception of themselves as "basically healthy people."

Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Elimination

The wife said that nutrition was important to the family but admitted that they did not eat very healthfully, often relying upon fast food, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets in a fairly monotonous eating pattern. She did not seem to have a strong sense of what constituted a healthy diet, although she did vaguely acknowledge that the family did not eat well. In terms of nutrition, the family could be identified as at risk for nutritional deficiencies, although none of the members were overweight. The family was physically active, working out at least five times a week and regularly attending a gym. The children were also physically active through sports and school activities.

The caloric intake from fast food was thus somewhat counterbalanced by physical activity expenditure, but the family may still have exhibited nutritional deficiencies in terms of vegetable and fruit intake, fiber, and other important nutrients for growing — and middle-aged — bodies. There also appeared to be a notable gap between self-perception (the family self-described as healthy eaters) and actual behavior. It is unlikely that the family will change at this point, given that their eating habits do not seem to cause them undue concern and they expressed no particular anxiety over their reliance upon fast food and processed foods. The fact that they are very physically active is, nonetheless, a strong foundation for health.

Regarding elimination, while the wife initially said that it posed "no problem," she later noted that her husband needed to take stool softeners weekly to eliminate properly and that she had herself suffered from a urinary tract infection. The husband is at evident risk for constipation, possibly due to a poor diet and/or stress. Regardless of the cause, it should be determined, given that over-the-counter laxatives are not designed for long-term use. Chronic constipation can also be a sign of other, more serious underlying disorders.

Sleep Patterns and Health Perceptions

A similar discrepancy was noted regarding sleep. Although the wife stated that the family "slept pretty well," she reported that the couple averaged six hours of sleep per night — well below the recommended seven to eight hours — and that her husband had sleep apnea, for which he was also receiving treatment. The wife did not explain why six hours of sleep had become the norm for the family. It could be linked to excessive television or computer use, or stress-related issues that cut into family rest time.

The lack of concern about the couple's sleep pattern, much like their lack of concern about family eating habits, seems to indicate either an unwillingness to change or a limited awareness of what constitutes healthy behavior. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults need at least seven hours of sleep per night for optimal health, making the family's current pattern a meaningful risk factor. The recurring theme across multiple health domains — nutrition, sleep, and smoking — is one of a family that values health in principle but has not yet translated that value into consistent, health-promoting action.