THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAMILY FUNCTIONING AND THE HEALTH PROBLEM OF A FAMILY MEMBER: A CASE ANALYSIS
The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship between the functioning of a family and the health problem of a middle aged male member of that family. The focus of this research is on assessing the individual's family system and the development of a family oriented intervention strategy. Client centered data and a review of the literature related family oriented intervention is presented as a part of this introduction.
Two types of client centered information are presented. The first type is client specific data, while the second type includes research findings relevant to the client problem.
The individual family member that is the subject of this research is a 53 year old man who is suffering from Crohn's disease, a form of ileitis. The individual is married, and lives with his wife (aged 43) and two teenaged daughters (ages 18 and 14). The subject is also a concert violinist who has been required to curtail some of his professional activities as a consequence of his physical condition.
Review of Literature The systems approach to the family provides a theoretical context for the application of family theory to the chronically ill family (Broderick and Smith, 1989, pp. 113 129). Johnson's behavioral system model of nursing provides a framework for
applying family theory in a nursing context (Fawcett, 1989, pp. 65 76).
The common definition of a system is "an aggregate of elements considered together with the relationships holding among them" (Angyal, 1990, p. 20). In this sense, a system may be considered "as any entity, conceptual or physical, which consists of independent parts" (Ackoff, 1990, p. 332).
A family is both a conceptual system, and a physical system. It is a physical system, because it is a physical entity. The family is a conceptual system, in that the be...