NRS 429VN  Social Determinants of Health Paper

Family Assessment Sample

            Social determinants of health are factors within one’s family and community that affect their access to healthcare services. Arthur’s family was interviewed in the previous project. The assessment showed the existence of significant health-related needs for the family. Nurses and other healthcare providers should collaborate with the family in developing healthcare plans to transform their lifestyles and behaviors. Therefore, this paper examines the social determinants of health affecting Arthur’s family, age-appropriate screenings for the family members, and appropriate health model that can be used to develop a plan of care for the family.

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Social Determinants of Health Affecting the Family

            As noted above, social determinants of health are factors within one’s environment that influence their access to healthcare services. The factors include those in places where one was born, work, grew, aged, and died. The interview with Arthur’s family showed the existence of several social determinants of health affecting them. One of them is the lack of awareness about their health needs. Education is an important aspect in health that increase population’s awareness about health risks and how to avoid them. However, Arthur’s family is not aware of the health risks associated with sedentary lifestyles. The family members rarely engage in active physical activity despite being obese and Arthur suffering from hypertension (CDC, 2022). Arthur and his son consume high amount of high calorie foods, which increases their risk of health complications such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, and stroke. Therefore, their lack of awareness about the health risks of their lifestyles and behaviors is a crucial determinant of the family’s health.

            The other social determinant of health seen in Arthur’s family is the affordability of healthcare services. Despite Arthur and his son suffering from hypertension and obesity respectively, they rarely visit the hospital for assessment and treatment. The family noted experiencing financial hardships, which makes it difficult for them to access and utilize the healthcare services that they need. The American healthcare system is among the most expensive in the world (Palmer et al., 2019). As a result, families from low socioeconomic backgrounds often experience challenges in affording the healthcare services they need for their health and wellbeing.

            The other social determinant of health evidence from the family assessment is social and community contexts. Arthur’s family demonstrated the lack of adequate family support system during the assessment. This could be seen from the family members failing to provide their daughter her desired social support when she experienced a relationship failure. The family also does not discuss about issues related to sexuality and relationship due to the influence of their religious beliefs (Palmer et al., 2019). The wider social and community system also does not support healthy habits for its members. This can be seen from the easy access to fast foods for the family members and the lack of community systems to increase the population’s awareness about the importance of healthy lifestyles and behaviors (CDC, 2022). Therefore, Arthur’s family social and community contexts act as their social determinants of health.

Age-Appropriate Screenings

            Arthur’s family members should utilize different age-appropriate screenings for their health promotion. The age-appropriate screenings for John Arthur include eye examinations, hearing tests, blood pressure screening, skin, dental, and testicular examinations. Age-appropriate screenings for Cate Arthur includes skin, dental, blood pressure, hearing, and eye examinations. The age-appropriate screenings for Chris Arthur includes eye, blood pressure, hearing, dental, and skin examinations. Mr. Arthur’s age-appropriate screenings include blood pressure, testicular, blood glucose, cholesterol, colonoscopy, and prostate screening tests. The age-appropriate screenings for Mrs. Arthur include ovarian cancer screening, mammography, bone density, cholesterol, blood glucose, blood pressure, pelvic, and cervical cancer screenings (Fragala et al., 2019). These screenings are important for early detection and prevention of potential health problems that may affect the family members.

Health Model for the Family

            A health model that can be adopted to assist in creating a plan of action for the Arthur’s family is the transtheoretical model. Transtheoretical model is a theory of change used to facilitate behavioral change among the target populations. It promotes long-term behavioral change through multiple adaptions and actions over time. The model postulates that people are in different stages of readiness to embrace healthy lifestyles and behaviors (Castrucci & Auerbach, 2019). As a result, the nurse should create awareness about the change and provide enabling factors for the process. The transtheoretical model asserts that change occurs in steps that include precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. This model is appropriate for the family since it will promote sustained lifestyle and behavioral change among the family members (Pennington, 2021). Since change occurs in steps, it would be possible to implement strategies that will prevent family members from relapsing to their unhealthy habits.

Steps for a Family-Centered Health Promotion

            The transtheoretical model provides several steps that must occur for the delivery of family-centered health promotion. The nurse should create awareness among the family members for the change in the precontemplation stage (Pennington, 2021). The family members should be made to understand the health risks associated with their behaviors and the need for a change. The nurse should facilitate them to develop interest in changing their behaviors in the contemplation stage. She should also help them to explore strategies that they need for their optimum health and wellbeing in the preparation stage (Liu et al., 2018). The nurse should then guide them in implementing new, healthy lifestyles and behaviors in the action phase. The focus is on ensuring incremental adoption of healthy lifestyles and behaviors and assisting the family members not to relapse to their unhealthy behaviors. The last stage in creating sustainable change is maintenance where family members have stabilized the desired healthy behaviors (Prochaska, 2020). Therefore, the transtheoretical model of change provides an effective approach to assisting the family achieve their desired health promotion goals.

Conclusion

            Overall, Arthur’s family experiences significant social determinants of health that affect their healthcare access and health-related outcomes. The nurse should work with the family in identifying the effective ways to promote the optimum health of the family members. The transtheoretical model of change can be applied in assisting the family to achieve its health promotion goals. The model provides steps for achieve sustained behavioral change in the family.

References

Castrucci, B., & Auerbach, J. (2019). Meeting individual social needs falls short of addressing social determinants of health. Health Affairs Blog, 10(10.1377).

CDC. (2022, May 9). Social Determinants of Health | NCHHSTP | CDC. https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/socialdeterminants/index.html

Fragala, M. S., Shiffman, D., & Birse, C. E. (2019). Population health screenings for the prevention of chronic disease progression. Am. J. Manag. Care, 25, 548–553.

Liu, K. T., Kueh, Y. C., Arifin, W. N., Kim, Y., & Kuan, G. (2018). Application of transtheoretical model on behavioral changes, and amount of physical activity among university’s students. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2402.

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

Pennington, C. G. (2021). Applying the transtheoretical model of behavioral change to establish physical activity habits. Journal of Education and Recreation Patterns, 2(1).

Prochaska, J. O. (2020). Transtheoretical model of behavior change. Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine, 2266–2270.

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Assessment Description
Refer back to the interview and evaluation you conducted in the Topic 2 Family Health Assessment assignment. Identify the social determinates of health (SDOH) contributing to the family’s health status. In a 750-1,000 word paper, create a plan of action to incorporate health promotion strategies for this family. Include the following:

Describe the SDOH that affect the family health status. What is the impact of these SDOH on the family? Discuss why these factors are prevalent for this family.
Based on the information gathered through the family health assessment, recommend age-appropriate screenings for each family member. Provide support and rationale for your suggestions.
Choose a health model to assist in creating a plan of action. Describe the model selected. Discuss the reasons why this health model is the best choice for this family. Provide rationale for your reasoning.
Using the model, outline the steps for a family-centered health promotion. Include strategies for communication.
Cite at least three peer-reviewed or scholarly sources to complete this assignment. Sources should be published within the last 5 years and appropriate for the assignment criteria.

Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.