Family health risks: Nursing

Family. Health risks are factors that can contribute to illness within a family, which is a group of people that depend on each other for physical emotional or economic support and are bound together in relationships either by blood marriage, adoption or choice as the nurse, you'll work with families to identify and reduce their health risks.

All right. So there are biological behavioral and environmental risk factors that can contribute to the development of unhealthy outcomes with families.

Biological risk factors are related to genetics and life events. Starting with genetics, certain conditions can be inherited and passed down through families.

For example, a mutation in certain genes like BRCA one or BRCA two increases the risk of developing certain cancers like ovarian and breast cancer.

At other times, there's a pattern of problems like high BP, high cholesterol or type two diabetes disease traced through several generations that can contribute to cardiovascular disease in family members.

When assessing biological risk factors, keep in mind that these risks are influenced by both behavioral and environmental risk factors.

Biological risks can also be related to life events which happens as families enter new stages of life. Life events can be normative or expected like aging or they can be nonnormative or unexpected.

Like the death of a spouse, each transition between stages can affect family health due to fluctuations in familial demands, behaviors and responsibilities.

With normative events, the family has time to anticipate the required adaptations needed to cope with the change. For example, adopting a baby requires the family to learn about pediatric immunizations and normal developmental processes.

On the other hand, unexpected events like a major illness or sudden loss of a family member can cause family stress and even dysfunction as the family works to adapt to their new reality.

Now, behavioral risks or lifestyle risks are personal and shared health habits within a family that can influence health.

Family culture plays an important role in health related factors like dietary choices, physical activity and sleep practices.

Other times a family member's behavior can affect others in the family. Like when a younger sibling imitates an older sibling who's using drugs or alcohol or when smoking by one family member exposes others to secondhand smoke.

Lastly, family culture influences beliefs about health and wellness decisions about when a family member is ill, when to seek medical care and what types of treatment regimens are appropriate.

Finally, there are environmental risk factors which include social economic and physical risks. Social risks refer to situations that can negatively impact family health by causing stress and psychological burden.

Examples include living in a high crime neighborhood or facing racism and discrimination. Economic risks which are often linked to social risks are determined by how well the family's financial resources meet their needs.

Financial resources determine a family's ability to afford services and items crucial for health such as medical insurance or medications.

Everyday items like food and clothing, as well as safe housing and access to quality education. Next, physical risks are environmental or geographic factors that can affect health such as noise pollution, contaminated drinking water and limited access to recreational spaces like parks.

As the nurse caring for families. Your goals are to assess family health risks and initiate interventions to promote positive health outcomes and support the family's wellbeing.

Begin by getting to know the family and establish rapport. Be sure to identify each member of the family and their relationship with one another.

Next, gather information on biological risk factors. During your interview, you can create a genogram which is a diagram that uses shapes and lines to represent family tie health patterns across generations.

A genogram can highlight recurring health conditions like high cholesterol, Alzheimer's disease or depression and illustrate changes in roles and relationships after events like marriage or divorce.

You'll also identify behavioral risks by asking about the family's lifestyle habits, including how often they engage in certain behaviors.

For example, to assess physical activity. Ask about the time they spend being active each day, the types of activities they do the resources they use and how much they value physical activity.

After identifying health risks, work with the family to reduce risk by building on their strengths and existing resources.

Collaborate with them to set realistic goals for risk reduction and assist them to gain confidence in their problem solving abilities.

Also provide them with information about community resources like support groups or financial assistance programs as needed.

Be sure to routinely evaluate the family's progress and adjust goals as needed depending on the family's circumstances and life events.

Lastly, you can reduce family health risks by advocating for relevant policy changes that affect vulnerable populations like equitable health care for LGBTQ I A plus families as well as paid paternal leave at the local and national level.

All right, that's a quick recap. Family.

Health risks are factors that can contribute to illness within a family, which is a group of people that depend on each other for physical emotional or economic support and are bound together in relationships either by blood marriage adoption or by choice as the nurse.

You'll work with families to identify and reduce their health