Introduction

This paper will be presenting crucial information related to the first family assessment paper in the regard of assessing the family’s status in a deeper context in the light of helping the family to make the necessary adjustment s to live a healthier and better life regardless of their situation. The discussion will first focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH) that are affecting the status of the family’s health, which will then be followed by an explanation of the impact that these SDOH have on the family, and an explanation of why these factors are prevalent for this family will ensue. Recommended age-appropriate screenings for each family member will then be provided, which will be followed by an explanation of the health model that will be selected to create a plan of action.  A discussion of why this health model is the best for this family will be provided, which will be followed by a section that will outline the steps for a family-centered health promotion guided by the chosen model.

The SDOH that affect the family health status

The social determinants of health are the social and economic conditions that influence group and individual disparities in health status. SDOH are the health-promoting elements that occur in one’s working and living conditions; for instance, wealth, income distribution, power, and which majorly influence the vulnerability to injury or disease or risk for infection. Usually, the distribution and quality of SDOH are shaped by the public policies that reveal the existing political ideologies of that particular area.

In this regard, one of the major SDOH affecting the family health status is income and social status. The family cannot access some essential services that would accentuate the wellbeing of their health. They cannot afford to go for regular checkups and worse, the husband has reached a point that he does not even desire to seek intervention to deal with his problem because he thinks such help is unnecessary given that he holds a false belief that he can manage his condition.

The second SDOH is education and literacy, defended by the fact that the parents of this family are not well-educated and as such, they have low-end jobs that do not provide them with sufficient income that would allow them to access even basic services like regular health check up. Agreeing with observations advanced by Bernazzani (2016), education influences better health, and as a result, they are restricted in the kind of access they can get and have to find a way to live on the moderate income they are getting. This is one of the major stressors in this family, seeing that the father is incessantly anxious for how he is going to continue providing for his growing family.

The third SDOH is healthy behaviors, and this is reflecting well for the family because it has committed itself to practice some desirable health behaviors that are cathartic to their health and overall wellbeing. For instance, the family has been eating together and bonding on a daily basis, which is largely influencing their children positively because they are taking up better-eating behaviors.  Additionally, they have also been praying together and running, health behaviors that are continuing to enhance the health of their family. However, the father is also dealing with an over-thinking problem that is causing him anxiety, which is also beginning to affect his family and putting them at danger of dysfunction.

Another SDOH is access to health services. Their income is not sufficient, and hence they have minimal access to health services. The husband is also dismissive of the significance of seeking therapy to deal with his problem of excessive thinking because they are not accustomed to regular check-ups. This attitude towards seeking medical assistance is causing the family further complications because he husband’s stresses are beginning to get to the wife and if left unchecked, they will affect the children as well. This is because as Lucyk and McLaren (2017) observe, such health inequities are major SDOH that affect wellness. The last SDOH is the physical environment, which, although it well maintained, there is still an inadequacy of good chances of advancement in terms of better working opportunities because it is a low-income neighborhood.

What is the impact of these SDOH on the family?

In discussing the impact of these SDOH, it is necessary to note that there are both good and bad repercussions of the SDOH, with the major factors posing increasing health problems for the family. For instance, in the SDOH of income and social status, the family is affected negatively because the members are unable to access sufficient check up and they are also compelled to live in a neighborhood that limits the extent of their advancement, further causing stress to the family.

Regarding education and literacy, the family is not well-educated, and hence, they are limited in terms of the job opportunities they can get, which then implies that their income will also be limited. As a result, the family has to make do with moderate income that they have to use resourcefully to meet all the required demands, which is taking a toll on the father’s health.

Why these factors are prevalent for this family

These factors are prevalent for this family mainly because of the socioeconomic status of the family. Currently, the parents are working average jobs that provide them with moderate income, which is not sufficient to meet the various requirements the family needs to live a healthier life. Every other problem affecting the family is stemming from the lack of adequate income because as a result, they cannot advance their education or look for different ways to subsidize their income. However, there are also some good factors, which are prevalent in the family because of its renewed commitment to eating healthy and influencing each other positively.

Age-appropriate screenings for each family member

Husband

Mental Health Screening: This test is imperative for the husband to check depression, anxiety, and any likelihood for an underlying and yet unknown addiction as a way for coping. This screen should be done in consultation with a doctor or nurse to make correct observations and recommend appropriate adjustments and interventions.

Physical body screening: This is necessary to establish that the husband is not suffering any from any unrevealed disease as a result of the constant anxiety and lack of adequate sleep.

Wife

Mental Health Screening: This is important to assess how she has been affected by their low social status as well as by her husband’s mental problem. This will help her because it is imperative not to ignore symptoms and hence delay treatment because it may lead to more severe problems like diabetes and obesity.

Children

Both children should also be screened in the presence of their parents to examine them for any indications of underlying health problems and encourage them to continue in healthy habits.

A health model to assist in creating a plan of action

The Health Belief Model

Salari and Filus (2016) indicate that the Health Belief Model is a widely used tool in understanding health behaviors; it is a theoretical model that is employed in guiding programs for promoting health and preventing disease and in explaining and predicting individual changes in the behaviors that influence health.

The reasons why this health model is the best choice for this family
This is the best health model for this family because it focuses on the beliefs an individual has regarding health conditions, and these beliefs help predict the behaviors that are related to health in an individual. This model is beneficial because it describes the key aspects that influence a person’s health behaviors, and in this family, this includes the person’s perceived threat to disease, which is perceived susceptibility, which applies in the husband’s case. The other factor the model examines is the belief of outcome (perceived severity), which the husband shows in that he does not believe there is any serious implication in failing to seek for assistance for this problem.

Further, the model examines the prospective positive advantage of action, that is, the perceived benefits associated with an action. In this regard, the family believes that by doing things together, they are learning better habits and hence improving their general health. However, the husband has a problem in this aspect because he dismisses the importance associated with seeking the help of a psychologist, which is causing further health problems both for him and for his family.

Additionally, the model addresses perceived barriers to action, which will help advise the husband to seek help and overcome the barrier of believing that he can manage the condition without help. It will also encourage the family to continue engaging in healthy behaviors because it will also be used to expose the family o the factors that motivate goo action and to also inculcate a belief in them that they can succeed in improving their health by adopting favorable health behaviors.

Steps for a family-centered health promotion

The model will be highly helpful in designing long-term and short-term interventions that will be articulated as steps necessary for effective family-centered health promotion. In this regard, the following steps should be followed with the assistance of the model in formulating and implementing a good and effective health promotion.

• Gather information from the family by executing an assessment for health needs to determine who is at risk and the kind of actions that should be designed depending on who to target for the recommended corrective action.
• Clearly and unambiguously convey the repercussions of the health issues related to risk behaviors so that a good understanding of the perceived severity can be facilitated, especially in the case of the husband. The clarification should be done on a face-to-face communication approach to also take in the considerations of the husband and the wife.
• Communicate to the target individual the steps involved in executing the recommended action and stressing the significance of taking such action.
• Assist the family to identify and reduce and where possible eliminate barriers to action.
• Demonstrate actions through activities that yield, support and augment self-efficacy as well as the possibility of successful changes in behavior.

References

Bernazzani, S. (2016). The Importance of Considering the Social Determinants of Health. AJMC. Retrieved on 22^nd February, 2019 from https://www.ajmc.com/contributor/sophia-bernazzani/2016/05/the-importance-of-considering-the-social-determinants-of-health?p=2

Lucyk, K and McLaren, L. (2017). Taking stock of the social determinants of health: A scoping review. Retrieved on 22^nd February, 2019 from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0177306&type=printable

Salari, R and Filus, A. (2016). Using the Health Belief Model to Explain Mothers’ and Fathers’

Intention to Participate in Universal Parenting Programs. DOI 10.1007/s11121-016-0696-6. Retrieved on 22^nd February, 2019 from http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:973800/FULLTEXT01.pdf

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