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Final Project: Stress Management Program for the Family

Karina Tejada

Purdue University Global

HW410 Stress: Critical Issues in Management and Prevention

Dr. Dorette Nysewander

May 03, 2022

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Stress Management Program for the Family

Stress is a feeling of emotional and physical tension based on external or internal

environmental conditions (Lacerda et al., 2018). Stress management is essential to keep

people safe from the pressures of life, family, and the workplace. In most cases, stress creeps

up on members of the family without anybody realizing it – causing an inordinate trigger and

near-instantaneous reaction to a perceived threat (Ohu et al., 2018). The stressors at home

emanate from different channels such as working on tight deadlines, with a limited budget or

having a high sales target (Lacerda et al., 2018). It doesn’t matter your position in the family

or the industry you work, triggers at home if not effectively handled can degenerate into

chaos. Stress has a major impact not just in the workplace but also at home. People face the

brunt of other sectors of life as they go about their normal activities and bring such pressures

home (Ohu et al., 2018). Other members of the family become casualties of their stress if

nothing is done about it. It is generally agreed that if the stress levels of individuals are

reduced, their productivity increases in every endeavor (Lacerda et al., 2018). Reduced stress

levels can mean happy couples, well-raised children, and peaceful homes. Therefore, family

stress management programs are increasingly implemented to reduce home stress and

increase productivity at home and in the workplace. This paper discusses the origin of

stressors in the workplace, their importance, an effective program that will help resolve the

issue, and the professionals necessary to implement the program. 

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Stressors and their Importance

           Many stressors cause reduced productivity and poor health outcomes for people. Most

people spend more time at work than anywhere else; therefore, a lot of pressure comes from

work and affects quality time at home. All family members must be aware of and recognize

stressors both at home and from other places where they spend quality time and take active

steps in reducing them (stressors) or their impact, promptly. Some stressors that affect

increase family stress include:

Working Long Hours. Due to the shortage of staff or high patronage of the company’s

products or services, employees are forced to work long hours resulting in burnout and

fatigue (Lacerda et al., 2018). Working long hours can also be a result of an employee

wanting to earn more if an extra shift means more pay (Lacerda et al., 2018). Nonetheless,

regardless of the motive behind long work hours, exhaustion reduced productivity, and

fatigue is highly likely with obvious consequences in the family (Lacerda et al., 2018). Like

adults’ school-aged youth can also be overworked. They have to go to school five days a

week, then come home to chores and piles of homework.

Heavy Workload and Tight Deadlines. Closely related to working long hours is a heavy

workload. Heavy workload refers to an employee taking more job responsibility than they

can ordinarily handle (Ohu et al., 2018). For example, a person might be employed as a typist

but be used as a secretary and an errand person. Heavy workload is a source of stress in the

workplace and has resulted in burnout. Some people take work home because they are unable

to complete it at work, reducing family time. In the same category kids and teenagers can also

be overworked. Today’s youth have many assignments in very little time. Some may have

extracurricular activities or help parents with siblings while also trying to provide for

themselves. Tight deadlines result from having too much work to execute over a short period

(Ohu et al., 2018). When faced with this sort of condition, especially for a crucial project,
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stress is inevitable, resulting in less sleep and possibly some health challenges such as high

blood pressure and eating disorders (Ohu et al., 2018).

Finances. Another source of stress is financial issues. We have seen this many times in the

past and has increased now with COVID19. Many individuals deal with not having enough

money for essential needs. Many suffer from food insecurity and do not have the money for

transportation or housing. There are sources in place to assist these individuals but are very

inadequate.

Micro-Management. Employers and supervisors are mostly guilty of micro-managing

employees. Micro-management is supervising every action of a subordinate or an employee

to the extent that the use of discernment is discouraged passively or actively (Lacerda et al.,

2018). Micro-managed employees or family members are observed to be highly stressed and

prone to ill health. 

Job Insecurity. Especially in this time of job scarcity, job insecurity is one of the leading

causes of stress (Ohu et al., 2018). Job insecurity increases the stress levels of parents

because of the uncertainty in their ability to provide for their loved ones. Many families have

faced challenging times due to job security.

Discrimination. Discrimination is one of the topmost causes of stress (Ohu et al., 2018).

People who are discriminated against for various reasons including sex, ethnicity, and

disability have recorded higher stress levels than others who do not (Ohu et al., 2018).

Discrimination in the family has resulted in low self-esteem and inferiority complex issues. 

Harassment. Harassment is to intimidate or take undue advantage of a person because of

being in a privileged position (Lacerda et al., 2018). Most people who face harassment

experience a high level of stress (Lacerda et al., 2018). There are different types of

harassment and intimidation, but sexual harassment seems to be the most reported form
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(Lacerda et al., 2018). Women and children are highly likely to be victims of harassment than

males in the family (Lacerda et al., 2018). 

Childlessness. Couples who are willing to have children but unable to have suffered undue

stress and the feeling of inadequacy, especially when they have tried for many years

(Whitebird et al., 2013). Caring for children is stressful, but not having a child brings greater

stress and sometimes depression to couples who want children (Whitebird et al., 2013). 

Caring for Older Parents. Children who provide care for their aged parents have a higher

tendency to be stressed than those who don’t have that responsibility (Whitebird et al., 2013).

Stress might emanate from physical exhaustion from caring or emotional due to their parents

undergoing pain as a result of the illness (Whitebird et al., 2013). 

Death of a Spouse/Family Member.  Nothing brings greater stress to a family than watching

a supportive and beloved family member die (Whitebird et al., 2013). There is no greater

stress in trying to figure out how to live without a supportive spouse (Whitebird et al., 2013).

Many families never truly recover from the death of a loved one. 

Stress Management and Mindfulness Technique

           Several studies have considered stress management programs have been explored to

reduce stress. One of the programs organized is a 36-hour training that lasts between 5 or 10

days for participants (Ohu et al., 2018). The program aims to provide psychological well-

being, develop emotional skills, and incorporate basic skills into daily life (Ohu et al., 2018).

The stress management program is a meditation plan that teaches empathy and how to

cultivate important human relationships (Ohu et al., 2018). Knowledge from this course helps

create a work-life balance. 

           Another mindfulness program combines meditation and yoga in an 8-week training

period to reduce stress in the workplace (Neece et al., 2019). This program was designed to

reduce the risks of cardiovascular disease and immune disease that affect people under
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intense pressure (Neece et al., 2019). They concluded that the yoga program reduces body

pains, increases activity levels improve depression, and self-esteem (Neece et al., 2019).

           The third mind mindfulness program used in relieving stress among employees is an

app called Calm (Neece et al., 2019). This app encourages physical inactivity and helps

employees improve sleep habits, find focus at work, and teach different methods of stress

management (Neece et al., 2019). Companies that subscribe to Calm claim it supports

employees in specific ways that work, regardless of the stressor (Neece et al., 2019).

Program Description

           This stress management program is designed to identify the stressors of employees and

make a concerted effort to reduce the stress. The initial phase of the program will involve

collecting feedback from participants in a non-disclosure format. This is to help identify all

the possible stressors in the organization. After which, an emotional, physical, and

educational training program will be conducted. The program involves teaching the

participants about emotional intelligence, how to attain family-work balance, budgeting, and

proper relaxation practice.   

Program Implementation

           Each participant will have to option to take three private sessions and one family

session with a professional if they chose to do so. The first will be to ascertain the peculiar

pressure faced by individual members of the family. The second and third sessions will

include providing training such as physical, emotional, and education programs. The last

session is to bring the family together and integrate new knowledge and collective practice.  

Program Obstacles

           One of the potential challenges of this program is time constraints. Time constraint is a

stressor for families and creating a program of this nature will require sparing time off other
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activities which is a challenge. Another challenge is the willingness of each family member

to adapt to change. Change in the way they talk, treat one another kindly, and respond to the

needs of others. 

           To overcome these constraints, the time requirement required for each session will be

limited to less than two hours. A preview of the session will be sent to participants before the

session, and sessions will be held during the weekend and evenings when most family

members will be free. Also, the individual sessions will be fixed on days of individual

assessment.

Health Professionals

           The health professionals required for this session are a psychologist and a yoga

instructor. The psychologist will help restore the psychological balance of participants, and

the yoga instructor is to teach physical relaxation. 

Program Measurements

           The effectiveness of the program will be measured with the mindfulness attention

awareness scale (MAAS) before and after the intervention to observe the effect of the

intervention on the family. The mindfulness attention scale is a 15-question scale that

measures mindfulness over cognitive, emotional, physical, and general domains (Whitebird et

al., 2013).

Summary

           Stress is a feeling of emotional and physical tension based on external or internal

environmental conditions. Stress management is essential to keep people safe from the

pressures of life, family, and the workplace. Stressors in the family include childlessness,

financial constraints, discrimination, harassment, and taking care of older parents.

Implementing a family mindfulness program will help reduce the stress levels in the family,
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irrespective of the cause. Evaluation will include using MAAS before and after implementing

the program. 
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References

Seaward, B. (2018). Managing stress: Principles and strategies for health and well-being

(9th ed.). Jones & Bartlett Learning.

Stahl, B., & Goldstein, E. (2019). A mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook (2nd ed.).

New Harbinger Publications.

Lacerda, S., Little, S., & Kozasa, E. (2018). A stress reduction program adapted from the

work environment: A randomized control trial with a follow-up. Front Psychol. 9:668.

http://doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00668.

Neece, C., Chan, N., Fenning, R. (2019). Mindfulness-based stress reduction for parents of

children with developmental delays: understanding the experience of Latino families.

Dev Psychol.10. 1017-1030. http://doi.org/10,1007/s12671-018-1011-3.

Ohu, E., Laguda, E., & Oguyemi, K. (2018). Mindfulness and stress reduction: Managing

workplace stress. Palgrave Mac, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62163-

0_7.

Whitebird, R., Kreitzer, M., Crain, A., Lewis, B., Hanson, L., Enstad, C. (2013).

Mindfulness-based stress reduction for family caregivers: a randomized controlled

trial. Bus Psychol. 53(4):676-88. http://doi:10.1093/geront/gns126.

Calm for your Team. (n.d.). Calm. Retrieved April 23, 2022, from https://business.calm.com/teams