Lifespan Changes And Families

Question 1

Define family

Answer 1

Married or co-habiting adults, couple or single adult
With or without children
Including childless couples or lone parent together with never married children
Grandparents with grandchildren without parents
Household does not equal a household

Question 2

Types of family

Answer 2

Lone parent 
Nuclear traditional 
Nuclear adopted 
Nuclear same sex
Extended 
Reconstituted/blended 
Postmodern family

Question 3

Lone parent

Answer 3

Single adult, typically a mother and a child

92% are women single mums

Question 4

Nuclear traditional

Answer 4

Mother and father and biological children

Only one generation

Question 5

Nuclear adopted

Answer 5

Mother and father and adopted children

Question 6

Extended

Answer 6

Parents, children, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts and uncles

Question 7

Reconstituted/blended

Answer 7

At least one adult has children from a previous relationship
Step brothers and stepsisters

Question 8

Post modern family

Answer 8

Inclusion of friends maybe ?

Question 9

What is a household

Answer 9

Group of people who share living arrangements - relax together, eat together and share household chores
Not the same as a family
Single family may form a household but a single family may extend beyond a single household
If your family live in different households
Single household may contain multiple families

Question 10

Family

Answer 10

Kinship and emotional/biological relations

Question 11

Household

Answer 11

Spatial and temporal relations

Question 12

Families and householders same not same

Answer 12

They may interact differently and should not be conflated. Should not be assumed that householders are family and vice versa

Question 13

Changing family structures

Answer 13

More cohabiting couples with or without children
More lone parent families - they are more likely to live in poverty
Age distribution of women giving birth have changed - more common for women to be older than 30 when having their first child
Downward trend in divorces but more in the over 60s
More people living alone - risk of isolation, causes healthcare problems, more of these people are likely to be elderly
Less children in households with children and less children in households with children
Increased number of families - more cohabiting couple families, more lone parent families, less married couple families

Question 14

Implications for healthcare

Answer 14

Late childbirth- must counsel women on risks of geriatric pregnancy
Ageing population- extra years are spent in ill health
Shrinking informal care and more formal care needed - since there are less families caring for the elderly and them needing more specialist care
Vulnerable people on support outside NHS/social care services - but funds for social care are decreasing

Question 15

Family function

Answer 15

Facilitates the procreation of children
Provides social control and socialisation of children
Dictates the social placement of children and adults - education
Physically looks after its members - also financially and emotionally

Question 16

Family’s role on health

Answer 16

Transmission of health risks via inherited disease - Huntingtons and sickle cell
Healthy/unhealthy lifestyle - family culture towards exercise, diet, smoking, alcohol
Attitudes to health and illness, healthcare professionals - influences consulting habits of other members of the family
Body image - dieting mothers are female role models and may encourage excess dieting
Diagnosis of symptoms - may be the first ones to notice the symptoms
Management of symptoms
Effect of illness on family functioning
Provision of healthcare - families may choose to provide private healthcare for family members

Question 17

Tansella’s 3 ways in which the family comes to the doctors attention

Answer 17

The family fails in its patient care function

The family member has a physical or psychological break down

There is non compliance and friction between the parent, family and doctor that can interfere with what you recommend, especially language barriers

Question 18

Family life cycle changes

Answer 18

Having children later

Later life starts later than it used to

Question 19

Life cycle stage 1971

Answer 19

The unattached adult 18+ -parent offspring separation
Newly married couple 25/23 -commitment to new family system
The family with young children - 26/24-accepting a new generation
The family with adolescents - 41/39 -increasing flexibility of family boundaries to accommodate developing children independence
Launching children and moving on 46/44 - accepting the exiting family members
The family in later life 51/49 - accepting shifting generational roles

Question 20

Family life cycle 2005/6

Answer 20

The unattached adult 18+ -parent offspring separation
Newly married couple 32/29 -commitment to new family system
The family with young children - 33/30-accepting a new generation
The family with adolescents - 46/43 -increasing flexibility of family boundaries to accommodate developing children independence
Launching children and moving on 53/50 - accepting the exiting family members
The family in later life 58/55 - accepting shifting generational roles

Question 21

Family reactions to illness - acute

Answer 21

Sudden illness affects the family
Daily pattern of family life disturbed
Families tend to pull together becoming more cohesive and integrated - centripetal affect
Either the illness then becomes chronic
Or the patient recovers and family returns to normal

Question 22

What happens in chronic illness

Answer 22

Family remains tightly bound together
- coping behaviour
- illness is ignored as far as possible
- family cuts down on its involvement with other people in the community to avoid confrontation with the effect of the handicap
Family pulls apart
- one parent cannot stand the stress - marital disruptions- divorce
- over attention devote to ill person - rest of family brothers and sisters are neglected lead to social deviance
- exclusion of the ill person from the family - institutionalise them returning the family back to normal

Question 23

2 types of family - centripetal family

Answer 23

External world is perceived as a threat, capable of causing disruption
Members seek gratification from within the family
Harmony is see as the glue and must be maintained
Negative or hostile feeling are denied or hidden
Healthcare implications
- may distrust medical advice, prefer to deal with issues in house
- centripetal focus may be amplified by the disease
- autonomy is at risk
- illness offers an excuse
-may not share all infor with gps

Question 24

Centrifugal family

Answer 24

Members seek gratification outside of the family
Marked distance between members
Little communication
Members are comfortable other negative and hostile feelings
Uncomfortable with warmth or caring
Healthcare implications
- may not off patient the support they need
- lack of understanding by family members
- resentment towards to family member

Question 25

Family carers

Answer 25

Most do not access any other support services such as respite breaks or counselling
Have impact on working life mental health
And physical health from being a carer

Question 26

Common effects on the health of carers

Answer 26

Stress/nervous tension 
Depression 
Anxiety 
Back injury
High BP

Question 27

Health burden on young carers

Answer 27

70% former young carers have suffered long term psychological effects
40% mental health problems
Psychological stress - difficulty making friends
Miss play time end up adopting parental role
Mental health - depression and stress to low self esteem - half of those interviewed had had some form of counselling