Patterns of Health Perception Research Paper

Patterns of Health Perceptions

Health Family

Marjorie Gordon (1985) went on to introduce the idea of functional health patterns in order to create a good nursing data base. Utilizing this approach, nurses are able to create an organized approach for attaining the relevant information from patients. This data therefore assists them in getting a good idea about the human and health functions of that family. In doing so, making a diagnosis becomes an easier process. The findings attained from the family I interviewed will be discussed below.

The health perception and management findings were that most of the family members were not satisfied with their general health. The major problems in the family were regarding hypertension and heart diseases in the family. The family as a whole stated that they did not find it easy to act according to the suggestions of the doctor. The elders of the family were recommended to stay on a strict low salt diet. The interesting finding was that the family was well aware about what they had to do but just lacked the motivated to do so. As for the metabolic and nutritional category, there was report of taking adequate diet along with the use of vitamins and supplements. Furthermore, there were the regular indigestion and acidity problems on and off. As for elimination, the bowel movements and urine output was normal and there were no problems as such.

As for activity and exercise, the family's activity level, exercise program and leisure activities were not adequate. They were not carried out on a regular basis mainly due to lack of free time and motivation. The entire family barely had any time to spend with each other and that indicated a very high stress level in all the members of the family. The sleep and rest pattern was normal and everyone took sufficient rest to carry out their daily chores. However, most of the family did have sleep onset problems. There was also history of on and off use of sleep aid especially after a tiring day. Regardless, the family did have a set schedule and they tried to stay on that schedule every day.

As for the cognitive and perceptual details, the family did have good ability to understand and follow directions.Two of the family members did have weak vision and they used visual aid for that. There were no problems with hearing, memory, concentration or impaired decision making. Pain was a common symptom amongst most of the family members. The entire family had a good and positive perception of self-concept and their condition. They were not depressed or anxious about anything for that matter. They had good will power to deal with any problems that they had. The family structure was quite strong and they did not have any problems in communicating with each other. There were no sexual problems in the family and the sex life of the couple was quite satisfactory.

As mentioned earlier, the family did have financial stress and problems but they dealt with it in a very good manner. The family relied on religious practices and prayers to cope with their stress. They were very keen on being religious and they believed that was a major cause of their inner peace.

Diagnosis as attained from Weber (2005)

Non-Compliance

The family assessment got me to conclude one major diagnosis that the family was non-compliant. Non-compliant is basically failure to follow directions or instructions regularly. Non-compliance in nursing or medicine basically means that the patient did not listen to the advice given by the doctor. Furthermore, the patient was not very regular with their medicine intake as well.

Russell and Daly et al. (2003) went on to state that non-compliance is a growing problem amongst patients today. However, it has been state that with proper nursing intervention, nurses can take on a leadership role to alter the way in which health care is delivered to the patient. Working with the patient, nurses can actual decrease the instances of non-compliance.

This was visible by the attitude that the family had regarding their current state of health and medical problems. As it was noted, the family did need regular checkups and visits to their physicians. Cardiac problems and hypertension was positive in this family and it was positive in their family history as well. This showed that….....