FAMILY HEALTH

DR IWUOHA E.C
CONSULTANT PUBLIC HEALTH AND
COMMUNITY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN
 Definition of the Family

• The family is the most basic unit of any

human social organization,
• comprising of the father, mother and their
biological and /or adopted children.

• Thus, communities are composed of

aggregates of families;
 Definition of the Family Contd

• while several communities form the states

and the various states together form the
nation.
• Thus the health and wellbeing of the
nation is dependent on the health status of
families.
 WHO Definition of Health

• Health is not just absence of disease but a

state of physical, mental, social, financial,
psychological and spiritual well being.
 The Roles of the Family
• The family provides support and
nurturance, guidance and socialization of
children, affiliation and unique identity,
legitimization of sexual relationships,
procreation, social and economic
organization
 Types of Family
• Nuclear family consist of the husband,
wife and their offspring (biological or
adopted) living in the same house hold,
and having strong ties to extended kin
(those beyond nuclear, related by blood or
by marriage.
• Extended family consist of other relations,
grandpas and grandma, (vertical
extension), uncles, aunties and cousins
(horizontal extension).
• Monogamous: husband with one wife
 Types of Family

• Polygamy: husband or wife(polyandry)

with more than one spouse
• Patriarchal/Patrilineal: couple bears
husband’s family name and inheritance is
along the male line. The male is the
dominant figure in the family.
Matriarchal/Matrilineal: couple may not
bear the wife’s family name, but heritance
along the female line. The female is the
dominant figure in the family
 Family Systems Theory/How
Families Operate
• Interdependence with interaction patterns.
• Setting Boundaries- The families define what
is considered acceptable and what is
unacceptable behaviour for family members.
(like a fence demarcating from the outside
world)
• Triangulation – i.e. the involvement of 3rd
party in family affairs, most especially in
settling dispute, thus reducing stress.
 PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED
AMONG FAMILIES
The problems can grouped into:
• Genetic Problems
• Environmental problems
• Combination of both Genetic and
environmental problems.
 Genetic problems
Some of the genetic problems are:
• Hemoglobin SS
• Down’s Syndrome
• G6PD deficiency (affects males) G6PD
helps protect RBCs from damage and
premature destruction
• Hemophilia – A clotting disorder
• Achondroplasia(short - limbed dwarfism)
 Environmental Problems

• These are problems emanating from man’s total

environment. Man’s total environment may be sub-
divided as follows
• Physical environment
• Biological environment
• Chemical environment
• Socio-cultural environment
• Political environment
• Economic environment
• Psychological environment
• Spiritual/religious environment
Physical Environment (non-living part of
the environment)

• Climatic conditions
• Housing
• water
• sanitation
• Pollution
 Biological Environment
There are various types of microorganisms
that cause diseases, morbidity and
mortality among families. These include
– Viruses –causing diseases like:
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome,
Poliomyelitis, Hepatitis, Measles,
Rubella, (causes congenital .
malformation.), Mumps, Rabies, Yellow
fever, Covid, Lassa
Biological Environment (cont’d.)
– Bacteria: causes diseases like: diarrhea
and vomiting, typhoid, cholera,
tuberculosis, pneumonias, meningitis,
diphteria, whooping cough,
– Protozoal: infections like– Malaria,
Amoebiasis,Toxoplasmosis,Leishmania
sis, Giardiasis, Balantidiasis.
– Helminthic: infections such as:
dracunculiasis, ascariasis, hookworm
infection, etc.
 Chemical Environment
• Discovery of oil in Nigeria is beneficial. It is
however not without its problems like Oil
spillage resulting in:
- Contamination of water – disease –
death
- Land and Water Pollution
- Low / no income to farmers esp. fish farmers,
• Poverty, Famine, Malnutrition, Susceptibility to
diseases,
• Premature deaths
- Genetic mutations
- Cancer e.g Koko village episode
Socio/Cultural Environment
• There are beneficial and harmful
socio/cultural practices.
Beneficial:
– Continuous breastfeeding for 2 years
– Extended family system
– Care of the elderly
– 40 days rest after delivery
• Harmful practices: These lead to family and
reproductive health problems. These include
– Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/FGC)
– Early marriage and teenage pregnancies
– High pride prize
– Bad delivery practices
– Extreme Hot bath (wankan jego in the North)
– Large consumption of Potash gruel (Kunu
Kanwa in the North)
– Son’s preference
– Gender based violence
– Widowhood rites
– Wife inheritance
 Psychological Environment

• Emotional stability is crucial to health status of

the family and proper upbringing of the children
in a conducive environment.
• Family stress may predispose susceptible
people to emotional instability and psychiatric
manifestations.
• Psychiatric problems in primary health care
have been under estimated.
• Unhealthy family relationship often results in
broken homes and juvenile delinquency
Religious/Spiritual Environment
• Some communities insist on the inhabitants
going to a particular stream during festivals for
ablution resulting in risk exposure to infections.
Economic Environment
• Depressed economy witnessed by many
African nations has led to increase in the
prevalence of poverty, diseases, morbidity and
mortality.
Poverty

Disease Ignorance
 Political Environment
 Maladministration
 Political instability
 Wars and family displacement
 Failure to execute health plans
 Health programmes abandoned
 Deployment of inappropriate cadre of
personnel
 DETERMINANTS OF THE FAMILY
HEALTH STATUS

• Age
• Marital Status
• Education
• Beliefs, Attitude, Behavioral practices
• Income
• Pregnancy Interval and Family Size
 Utilization of Health services
– Adolescent Health Care
– Maternal health care
– Child Health Care
– School Health
– Care of the Elderly and Handicapped
– Occupational Health Services
Objectives of Family Health Programmes

• Control of communicable and non-

communicable diseases
• Reduce morbidity and mortality
• Increase life expectancy and enhance the
quality of life
• Improve productivity
• Enhance national economic and social
development
 Strategies For Improving The
Health Status Of Families
• Programmes for ensuring optimum health status
of families must include health programmes that
are :
a. Comprehensive
b. Continuous
c. Coordinated
d. Collaborative
 Strategies contd
Community Outreaches through :
- Genetic counseling
- Nutrition education
- Marriage counseling
- Vocational education

Community mobilization
- Encouragement of establishment of
cooperative and credit societies
- Discouragement of harmful cultural practices
- Advocacy for governmental and non-
governmental presence and participation in
health matters.
Strategies (cont’d.)
• Promotion of food supply and proper nutrition
• Adequate supply of safe water and basic sanitation and
environmental care.
• Effective utilization of reproductive health services
• Encouragement of utilization of family planning services
• Improvement of Immunization coverage
• Prevention and control of locally endemic diseases
• Early and appropriate treatment of common disease and
injuries
• Provision of essential drugs
• Integrations of mental and dental health into primary
health care systems.
 LIMITATIONS
 Political instability
 Maladministration
 Poor funding
 Shortage of man power especially as a
result of exodus to greener pastures
 Deployment of inappropriate cadre of
personnel
• Lack of continuity of governmental
projects, programmes and policies
• Corruptions
• Failure to execute health plans
 LIMITATIONS (cont’d.)
• Frivolous changes in government policies
• Mismanagement of existing resources
• Wrong priorities
• Inadequate utilization of potentials - both
human and material resources
• High level of illiteracy
• Chronic poverty
• Adherence to obnoxious believes and
traditions, etc.
• THANK YOU