Concepts of Family Health

Concepts of Family Health Dwayne Potenteau The purpose of this paper is to discuss a specific family member’s meaning of health, influences and holistic assessments using family health concepts. The understanding will be presented within the framework of the CAEN Decision making model, a discussion on the person’s health experience, and focusing on the concepts related to family health within the context of the client. CAEN Decision Making Model The framework used for this paper is the CAEN (Collaboration for Academic Education in Nursing) Decision making model. This model allowed me to focus and develop a process for understanding the client. The process I used was divided into 3 main points, client centered, coming to know the client, and salience/pattern recognition/health issues (CAEN, 2012). To understand my client, I incorporated a client centered approach. Focusing on client centered health, allows me to have a deeper grasp of the client’s lived experience and context. Making the family the expert not only gave them control, but improved my ability to understand their perspective (CAEN, 2012). Coming to know the client is a way to improve knowledge and understanding a family’s persona meaning of health (CAEN, 2012). I used client storytelling, conversation, and observation to obtain knowledge (CAEN, 2012). Focusing my attention and being aware of any observations allowed me to grasp and understand the clients lived experience. The information gathered led to knowledge in saliency, patterns recognition, and health issues. Saliency and pattern recognition knowledge are dependent on the Carper’s ways of knowing, plus the addition of sociopolitical knowing (CAEN, 2012). Doane and Varco note that the ways of knowing are used to inform our practice, others, and context (Doane Varcoe, p.94, 2005). Salience refers to the intentional way in which we choose or make decisions that are important, critical and relevant to the client. I achieved this through questions, dialogue, and reflective practice with the family. Pattern recognition deals with the ability to connect this information. To interpret patterns, I used the ways of knowing, analysis, deductive and inductive reasoning during the meeting with the family(CAEN, 2012). Health Issues are components that involve the client and nurse to identify and understand health related challenges (CAEN, 2012). During conversation, I was able to interpret and respond with questions to reveal the family’s resources, strengths, goals, and context. Individual’s Health Experience In understanding the lived experience, I used the aforementioned coming to know techniques to understand the client’s physical characteristics, context, social support and experience with the medical system. Physical Characteristics: The client for this paper is a middle aged Caucasian male, 63 years of age, has a wife who is 47 years old, and two sons, 16 and 18 respectively. In our conversations the father exposed information regarding his physical health. The father informed me that although he does not exercise regularly, he believes in the benefits of frequent exercise. In addition to the aforementioned exercise, the father expressed his concerns over consuming too much alcohol. He stated that he does consume alcohol daily, and during social events, he tends to over drink. Context: The father addressed economic concerns, and acknowledged that money is an indicator of health. This year in particular had been harder financially that previous years, and he commented on the stress he felt due to the financial constraints. One of his part time jobs was on the ski hill, and this year the delay in opening had reduced the household income. The family consists of a wife, and two teenage sons. Being an older father, he is aware of his energy levels, and having to raise two boys. Social Support: Another facet of health he commented on was the social aspect. The client has a large social group, and thus felt that friends were a big impact on health. He often works with friends at events to help out the community and enjoy the social aspects of volunteering. Experience with Medical system: Another component to his understanding of health was his experiences with the medical system. In particular, the client has a history connected with mental illness. His grandfather and father were both committed and passed away in institutions. The experience gave him an understanding of how the medical system treated patients with a mental illness. His experiences have changed his perception of people with a mental illness. He states that he is more compassionate and understanding due to his experience. The father also acknowledged the importance of nurses as they were the caregivers of his father and grandfather. Not only were the father’s experiences shaping his understanding of health, his growth and development also contributed to his overall meaning of health. Growth and Development Physical Development: The client is a middle aged adult, age 63. His weight was within normal range for his height. I measured his vitals, with a blood pressure, 110/75, pulse rate of 70 beats per minute and 16 respirations a minute. All of the values are within the normal range for the client. Performing the visual and hearing test resulted with normal values. The father was also aware of his sexuality, and was open to discussing his eating, elimination, and sleep patterns. The normal ranges observed in the vitals and general assessment gave him an understanding on the importance of maintaining a healthy body. Psychosocial Development: The client was accepting of his aging, and was comfortable with his physical and emotional capacities. The client did discuss some concerns about being a middle aged adult with two teenage boys. He was a little stressed on how their lives would turn out. According to Soroor and Faxlollah, the widening generation gap in social trends and technology has led to decreased effective communication between parents and their children (soroor Faxlollah, 2009). The father acknowledges this and expressed his concerns over his reduced role and lack of control over technology in the household. Family Health Concept To understand family health we can break the words into family and health. Family can be defined as two or more people bound together assuming responsibilities (Kozier et al, 2012). Health can be described by the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity (WHO, definition). The concept of family health is that if you improve a family, you improve a community (Stamler Yui, 2012). Some of the barriers that face the client’s family are the romanticized and stigmatized perceptions of family(Doane Varcoe, 2005). The influence of media on what a family should be can lead to system behavioral changes. To have a clearer understanding of context and influences we look at the health of a family by using family assessment models. I have chosen the Friedman Family Assessment model to guide me in understanding the individual’s strengths and problems within the family. Friedman’s model uses a systematic process for future planning, intervention, and evaluation (Stamler Yu, 2012, p.271). I must also address that there are numerous frameworks to choose from and due to constraints on paper size, I have selected only to use one framework. While Friedman’s family assessment contains 6 categories, I will be focusing on family structure, and family function. For this paper we will address the impact of health indicators, and health perspectives within the context of the family. Health indicators that influence the family are health behaviors such as not smoking, regular physical activity, and moderate drinking, but I will be focusing on income and education levels. Since the client did not work a large portion of the winter part time job, the wife had to take on the role of working more hours. The impact of indicators such as income potential and living costs have led the family to limit spending, and recover from previous bankruptcy. Education is another indicator that affects the family. The father did not graduate and expressed his displeasure and guilt. He stated that he often feels inadequate when conversation about academics is brought up. He feels that although education is important, he feels helpless in trying to promote education and keep an emotional connection with his sons. Health Perspectives: The family structure is assessed by observing the communication patterns, power structure, role structure, and family values (Stamler Yiu, 2012). The communication pattern I observed was usually initiated by the father. He seemed to initiate the dialogue, and the other members of the family joined in when appropriate. The father stated he is assertive, and opinionated, but acknowledge s other contrasting views. I noticed that the mother often disagreed with the father. This sharing of contrasting opinions may come from the father’s way of growing up, as men were the dominant money makers in the family. The wife in this family would be considered the money maker, and thus may contribute to the power struggle within this family. The wife is away from the homestead often, due to the nature of her work. The separation between husband and wife has also led to further disagreement and potential insecurities felt by the father. According to De Mol, Buysee and Cook, interdependence l eads to influence either directly or indirectly (De Mol, buysee, Cook, 2010). The roles of nurturing figure, decision maker, problem solver and provider have created possible conflict. De Mol states that family members need to feel wanted or appreciated by other family members (De Mol et al, 2010). The family function is assessed by observation, family affectiveness, socialization, and healthcare. Stanhope and Lancaster stress the importance of family relationships and health care as the most important aspects of family function (Stanhome Lancaster, 2008). The largest observation was the family’s affection and caring for each other. I noticed support, and communication between all the members of the family. Soroor and Fazlollah note in their study that parents should have good communication (Soroor Fazlollah, 2009). The impact has been good communication between the father and the rest of the family. Being sensitive to each member’s needs has allowed an open forum for communication. This has led to the family better handle crisis situations, such as financial problems and seek the assistance of friends and extended family. Learning Experience This experience has increased my awareness of the importance in using the CAEN decision making model and frameworks to help guide my process of assessment. The frameworks assist in focusing my assessment observations and questions. In addition to the frameworks, the use of the relational lenses is an important tool, allowing me to hone in on aspects of an individual or family’s health. The process of coming to know also allows me to understand that my beliefs and perceptions should be acknowledged, but put away when relating to the individual/family. These tools not only assist in understanding, but focus the attention to the client. Haggerty notes the need to understanding the patient’s perspective in order to allow for greater accountability, primary care, and knowledge (Haggerty, Fortin, Beaulieu, Hudon, Loignon, Preville, Roberge, 2010). These tools allow me as a future nurse to identify strengths and weakness and capacity of the individual or family. This knowledg e informs me to develop health promotion interventions, and promote optimal health. References Collaboration for Academic Education (CAEN). (2012). Part Three: Learning and Teaching in the curriculum. Author. CAEN De Mol.J., Buysee. A., Cook, W. (2010) a family assessment based on Social Relations Model. Journal of Family Therapy(32). 259 279 Hartrick Doane, G., Varcoe, C. (2005). Family nursing as relational inquiry: Developing health-promoting practice. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Haggerty, J., Fortin, M., Beaulieu, M., Hudon, C., Loignon, C., Preville, M., Roberge, D. (2010). At the interface of community and healthcare systems: a longitudinal cohort study on evolving health and the impact of primary healthcare from the patient’s perspective. BMC Health Services Research. (10). 1 10 Kozier, B.,Erg, G., Berman, A., Snyder, S., Buck, M., You, L. (2012). Fundamentals of Canadian Nursng Concepts, Process, and Practice (3rd Canadian ed.). Don Mills. On: Pearson . 15 Stanhope, M., Lancaster, J. (2008). Public health nursing: Population-centered health care in the community (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier Stamler, L, Yu, L. (2012). Community health nursing; A canadian perspective (3rd ed). Toronto. On: Pearson Soroor, P. Faxlollah, A. (2009). A qualitative study on adolescence, health and family. Mental health in Family Medicine(6). 163 – 172

Japanese Yen :: Essays Papers

Japanese Yen The Japanese Yen When Richard Nixon suspended the convertibility of US dollars to gold in 1972, the fixed rate between the dollar and the yen was exchanged for a floating rate. The international value of the yen rose sharply and is today one of the most attractive currencies on the market as it directs the world's second largest economy. The yen is controlled by a central bank known as the Bank of Japan or BOJ. This central bank is under the supervision of the Minister of Finance. Over the past decade, the yen has fluctuated greatly. From early 1990 through mid 1995, the yen doubled in value from 160/$ down to 80/$. From 1995-1998, the yen lost value and was back up in the 140's/$. The trend in the past year has been a steady increase in value for the yen. Over the past six months, the yen has fluctuated. From April through mid-July, the yen floated between 124/$ and 118/$. Since then it has increased in value falling to the area of 105/$. On Friday September 24, the closing rate on the yen was 104.24/$. Over this next week, the yen rose to a close of 105.0000/$. This means that the yen lost a little value in comparison to the dollar. This slight fall is not representative of what is going on with the yen however. Over the past few months, investors have put money into Japanese stocks. The government is putting pressure on the BOJ to increase the yen supply in order to stave off inflation and curb long-term interest rates. This pressure came after a G-7 meeting in which the members suggested that Japan do something to weaken the yen. Prices and wages are falling and output is below Japanese productive potential. Despite these factors, the BOJ is hesitant about responding because it is concerned that expanding the yen supply will cause inflation. Last week, Japanese companies were becoming more optimistic about economic growth. The BOJ didn't take in cash from money markets on Sept. 30, leaving in twice the normal sur plus, so traders felt that the BOJ would follow the idea of expanding the yen supply. The BOJ is conducting a survey on Monday Oct. 4 to see how optimistic business sentiment is as the economy tries to rebound. The yen could rise this next week to its highest level since that 1995 value of 80/$.

Essay About Cause of Stress in Our Society Today

Sometimes in our life, we may run into a good teacher and if lucky, it’ll be two or three. These people end up shaping our lives for the better because of their greatness, and we deeply admire them for that. They may have many faces, a professor in your university or simply they may just be your family, friends and neighbors. But no matter who they are, they must have some certain characteristics that granted their title: â€Å"A Good Teacher†. The first quality that is essential in a good teacher is knowledge.If the teacher does not know the subject, then they should have no business teaching it to others. Some think they can fake it by just studying the text book ahead of time. But with that teaching methodology, the teacher simply becomes an extra filter to the information in the book. Filters do not add information, they can only restrict its flow. In which case the teacher becomes unnecessary. (,) Second, the teacher needs to be skilled in the arts of communication .All the knowledge in the world is useless unless the teacher is able to effectively communicate that information to students. Teachers need to be able to communicate lessons in a way that student can comprehend and apply them. Different people learn in different ways. Some students learn best by seeing, some by hearing, and others by doing. So a skilled teacher will use all these methods of instruction in order to reach the greatest number of students. Finally, and this is true in all fields not just teaching, the teacher must be passionate.If you are passionate about teaching, you will be motivated to improve your students, and through that process improve yourself and your teaching skills. If you do not care, that attitude comes through in your lesson plans, no matter how good a lecturer you are. People, even students, do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. There are many qualities that make up a great teacher, and these are some of the most important on es. If we truly learn from these people that have shaped our lives, then maybe we can become teachers too.

How to Get Started on a Literature Review

If you are an undergraduate or graduate student, there is a good chance that you will be asked to conduct at least one literature review during your coursework. A literature review is a paper, or a part of a larger research paper, that reviews the critical points of current knowledge on a particular topic. It includes substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological contributions that others bring to the subject. Its ultimate goal is to bring the reader up to date with current literature on a topic and usually forms the basis for another goal, such as future research that needs to be done in the area or serves as part of a thesis or dissertation. A literature review should be unbiased and does not report any new or original work. Starting the process of conducting and writing a literature review can be overwhelming. Here are a few tips on how to get started that will hopefully make the process a little less daunting. Determine Your Topic When choosing a topic to research, it helps to have a clear understanding of what it is you want to research before setting out on your literature search. If you have a very broad and general topic, your literature search is likely to be very lengthy and time-consuming. For example, if your topic was simply â€Å"self-esteem among adolescents,† you will find hundreds of journal articles and it would be nearly impossible to read, comprehend, and summarize every one of them. If you refine the topic, however, to â€Å"adolescent self-esteem in relation to substance abuse,† you will narrow your search result significantly. It is also important not to be so narrow and specific to where you find fewer than a dozen or so related papers. Conduct Your Search One good place to start your literature search is online. Google Scholar is one resource that I think is a great place to start. Choose several keywords that relate to your topic and do a search using each term separately and in combination with each other. For example, if I searched for articles related to my topic above (adolescent self-esteem in relation to substance abuse), I would conduct a search for each of these words/phrases: adolescent self-esteem drug use, adolescent self-esteem drugs, adolescent self-esteem smoking, adolescent self-esteem tobacco, adolescent self-esteem cigarettes, adolescent self-esteem cigars, adolescent self-esteem chewing tobacco, adolescent self-esteem alcohol use, adolescent self-esteem drinking, adolescent self-esteem cocaine, etc. As you start the process you will find that there are dozens of possible search terms for you to use, no matter what your topic is. Some of the articles that you find will be available through Google Scholar or whichever search engine you choose. If the full article is not available via this route, your school library is a good place to turn. Most college or university libraries have access to most or all academic journals, many of which are available online. You will likely have to go through your school’s library website to access them. If you need help, contact someone at your school’s library for assistance. In addition to Google Scholar, check your school’s library website for other online databases that you could use to search for journal articles. Also, using the reference list from articles that you gather is another great way to find articles. Organize Your Results Now that you have all of your journal articles, it is time to organize them in a way that works for you so that you don’t get overwhelmed when you sit down to write the literature review. If you have them all organized in some fashion, this will make writing a lot easier. What may work for you is to organize my articles by category (one pile for articles related to drug use, one pile for those related to alcohol use, one pile for those related to smoking, etc.). Then, after you are done reading each article, summarize that article in a table that can be used for quick reference during the writing process. Below is an example of such a table. Begin Writing You should now be ready to begin writing the literature review. The guidelines for writing will likely be determined by your professor, mentor, or the journal you are submitting to if you are writing a manuscript for publication. Example of a Literature Grid Author(s) Journal, Year Subject/Keywords Sample Methodology Statistical Method Main Findings Finding Relevant to My Research Question Abernathy, Massad, and Dwyer Adolescence, 1995 Self-esteem, smoking 6,530 students; 3 waves (6th grade at w1, 9th grade at w3) Longitudinal questionnaire, 3 waves Logistic regression Among males, no association between smoking and self-esteem. Among females, low self-esteem in grade 6 led to greater risk of smoking in grade 9. Shows that self-esteem is a predictor of smoking in adolescent girls. Andrews and Duncan Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 1997 Self-esteem, marijuana use 435 adolescents 13-17 years old Questionnaires, 12-year longitudinal study (Global Self-worth subscale) Generalized estimating equations (GEE) Self-esteem mediated the relationship between academic motivation and marijuana use. Shows that decreases in self-esteem associated with increases in marijuana use.