NRS429V WK4 Health Assessment
The health and wellbeing of families depend largely on the social and environmental factors in their communities. Social and environmental factors influence the access to and utilization of healthcare services. They act as critical determinants that can either enhance or hinder the utilization of healthcare services and health outcomes of individuals with different health needs. Therefore, this paper explores the social determinants of health, age appropriate screenings and health model that can be utilized to ensure family-centered health promotion for the family interviewed in assessment one.
Social determinants of health are non-medical factors that play a role in influencing the health outcomes of individuals, families and communities. They mainly refer to the conditions where individuals are born, work, grow, live and age (Hill-Briggs et al., 2021). The assessment with the family showed a number of social determinants that influence its health. One of them is the level of income. Income is a critical determinant of health, as it influences access and affordability of care. Income also influences the affordability of health insurance programs that in turn helps lower the costs of care (Palmer et al., 2019). Income appeared to affect the health status of the family. It affected the family’s affordability of healthy diets, utilization of screening services and treatment services for the different health problems affecting the family members.
The other social determinant of health identified in the family during the interview is education. Education influences the awareness of individuals to healthy lifestyles and behaviors. It influences the uptake of services such as screening and treatment services for health problems. Education also influences other predictors of health and wellbeing such as employment status and level of income (Donkin et al., 2018). The interviewed family had well-educated members. The husband and wife were educated and working while children are in the university. The benefit of education could be seen from their increased utilization of preventive and health promotion services such as screening and treatment of diseases to prevent their progression and worsening of symptoms.
The other social determinant identified in the family is unemployment. While the parents of the family were employed, they experienced a high dependency rate from the other family members (Hill-Briggs et al., 2021). The interview showed that the grandparents and children depend largely on the little income from the parents, which affect their overall health and wellbeing. The high rate of dependency affects affordability of healthcare services as well as healthy diets for the family, hence, its health and wellbeing. The other social determinant identified from the interview is food insecurity. Adequate, healthy food is important for the promotion of the health and wellbeing of families and communities (Palmer et al., 2019). Healthy foods prevent health problems such as obesity and malnutrition in the community. The interviewed family reported that despite having access to healthy foods, affording them was a challenge. As a result, they were predisposed to making unhealthy food choices in some situations, which affects their health and wellbeing.
The last social determinant of health identified from the interview with the family is housing. Safe housing is important for the promotion of health of the families. The housing conditions such as hygiene, aeration and space should promote the health and wellbeing of the occupants. The environment should also be clean to minimize the exposure of the family members to disease causing organisms (Donkin et al., 2018). The interviewed family lives in a healthy environment and housing. As a result, they have minimal exposure to environmental hazards that could predispose them to health problems.
Age Appropriate Screenings
Screening is an important tool utilized for primary prevention. It facilitates early identification and management of potentially life threatening health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer among others. Each of the family members in the interviewed family has age-appropriate screenings that they need. The appropriate screenings for all the family members irrespective of their ages include weight, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, eye and ear, cholesterol, and skin screenings for pathological lesions. The children require additional screenings that include breast examination, Pap smear, and testicular examinations. The parents require screenings that include pelvic exam, Pap smear, testicular, breast examination, and cholesterol check. The grandparents require screenings that include prostate screening, mammography, full body scan, and colonoscopy.
Health Model
The selected model to guide the plan of action for the interviewed family is health belief model. Health belief model can be utilized to understand and predict the ability of individuals to change their health-related behaviors. The model focuses on transforming the beliefs that individuals have towards their health and health behaviors for them to embrace the needed lifestyle and behavioral modifications. By focusing on influencing factors such as perceived threat to sickness, severity, susceptibility, benefits, and cues to action, healthcare providers can inspire sustained behavioral change among individuals at risk of health problems (Liu et al., 2021). Consequently, it makes the health belief model an effective theory that can be used to achieve sustained positive behavioral change in the family.
The health belief model provides insights into the steps that can be utilized to deliver family-centered health promotion. One of the steps is open communication. Open communication among family members and healthcare providers contribute to trust and honesty. It also empowers the vulnerable to embrace positive behaviors that will contribute to their health (Kıssal & Kartal, 2019). The second step is recognizing the importance of the family. Families exist as unique entities with members having interrelated relationships. As a result, the model leverages the need for active involvement of the family members in the exploration of health issues facing them and interventions to prevent and manage them. The other strategy is health education. Health education creates awareness among the family members about the need for lifestyle and behavioral transformation. Through it, family members are empowered to play a proactive role in addressing their health needs. The last strategy from the model is the use of family appropriate interventions to promote their health. The model asserts that the interventions for health promotion should be culturally appropriate and adaptive (Liu et al., 2021). They should be relevant to the actual and potential needs of the family members to enhance their use and promotion of health.
Conclusion
Overall, social determinants of health have critical effect on the health of families. Social determinants of health such as level of education, employment status, and income influence the access to and utilization of care services. The health belief model can be used to promote the desired behaviors in the family. The strategies of the model guide the implementation of sustainable strategies that would enhance the health, wellbeing, and understanding of the family on issues affecting them.
References
Donkin, A., Goldblatt, P., Allen, J., Nathanson, V., & Marmot, M. (2018). Global action on the social determinants of health. BMJ Global Health, 3(Suppl 1), e000603. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000603
Hill-Briggs, F., Adler, N. E., Berkowitz, S. A., Chin, M. H., Gary-Webb, T. L., Navas-Acien, A., Thornton, P. L., & Haire-Joshu, D. (2021). Social Determinants of Health and Diabetes: A Scientific Review. Diabetes Care, 44(1), 258–279. https://doi.org/10.2337/dci20-0053
Kıssal, A., & Kartal, B. (2019). Effects of Health Belief Model-Based Education on Health Beliefs and Breast Self-Examination in Nursing Students. Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 6(4), 403–410. https://doi.org/10.4103/apjon.apjon_17_19
Liu, C., Chen, X., Huang, M., Xie, Q., Lin, Q., Chen, S., & Shi, D. (2021). Effect of Health Belief Model Education on Increasing Cognition and Self-Care Behaviour among Elderly Women with Malignant Gynaecological Tumours in Fujian, China. Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2021, e1904752. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/1904752
Palmer, R. C., Ismond, D., Rodriquez, E. J., & Kaufman, J. S. (2019). Social Determinants of Health: Future Directions for Health Disparities Research. American Journal of Public Health, 109(S1), S70–S71. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.304964
