Family Health Assessment
ANSWERS
It is crucial to evaluate a client’s family’s present and previous health because some diseases have a genetic component. You can create a risk profile for inherited conditions using this data. Even though it’s crucial to comprehend the risk and propensity for illness based on family health, these aspects do not decide health and well-being. As seen in Figure 2.9, health providers will occasionally create genograms to record this data. Genograms can be made in many different ways, of which this is just one.
You want to ask questions that elicit details about the condition of the relatives’ health, age, and, if appropriate, cause of death and age at the time of death (parents, grandparents, siblings, children, nieces, nephews). The ones to consider asking are:
Tell me how your blood relatives are doing.
Do they suffer from acute or chronic illnesses (such as heart disease, cancer, or mental health problems)?
Do you have any deceased blood relatives?
If yes, do you understand the manner of passing?
And at what age did they pass away?
Additionally, you should evaluate the health of non-blood relatives, people clients have lived with, and people clients have had intimate contact with; this can be a crucial component of the evaluation, especially in terms of infectious diseases (i.e., diseases spread through the air, food, physical contact, contaminated surfaces, and insect and animal bites). The ones to consider asking are:
Tell me about the health of the people you share a home with.
Has anyone recently been ill?
If yes, do you understand the reason?
What signs did they exhibit?
Have you lately been near anyone else who was ill (e.g., at work, school, or in an environment involving close contacts like an office or a plane)?
QUESTION
Family Health Assessment
Develop an interview questionnaire to be used in a family-focused functional assessment