The Family and developmental life

cycle
By Susan Mutemwa
RN/ RM/ BSC / MSC
 Specific Objectives
• At the end of the session, students should be
able to:
• Define family and community
• State the types of families
• Discuss family developmental life cycle
• Describe areas of family assessment
• Factors affecting the health of the family
 Definitions of terms
• Family refers to two or more individuals who
depend on one another for emotions, physical
and financial support ( Hanson, 2001)
• Community is a group of people who have some
personal or environmental characteristics in
common (Hanson,2001).
• Nurses who work with families should ask people
who they consider to be their families and then
include those members in health care planning.
 Types of families
• Nuclear family
• Extended family
• Single parent family
• Blended family e.g. step parents
• Communal family e.g. orphanage
• The authority based, seniority based, age based
• Multi adult with or without children such as
cohabiting couple, same sex partners, home
sharing individuals.
 Family developmental life cycle
• The developmental steps have been explained
by theorists like Erik Erickson who proposed
the psychosocial growth of children and teens.
• Jean Piaget explained stages of cognitive or
mental growth.
• CHN should know these stages because it
gives them a foundation for understanding
what typical issues stand out in each season of
one’s life.
 Family developmental life cycle
• This also helps the CHN pay attention to an
individual’s progress or stagnation and how it
impacts on their growth in late life.
• Apart from knowing the stages of individual
development, it is important to know that
family itself has its own stages of development
known as family development life cycle
 Family developmental life cycle
• The developmental phases of a family are outlined
below:
Unattached Adult
• The main issue occurring in this first stage is accepting
parent-offspring separation.
• E.g Rob Tembo has just turned 20. He is in college,
which means he is experiencing life on his own for the
first time. The tasks that are critical for him to
accomplish in this phase include: separating from family
and connecting with peers as well as initiating a career.
 Family developmental life cycle
2. Newly Married Adults
• The main issue in this stage is commitment to the
marriage.
• Rob is 23, and he has just gotten married. He is
learning how to no longer act for himself and now
act for the welfare of his wife and their
relationship.
• He is accomplishing the tasks of forming a marital
system while continuing to address career
demands.
 Family developmental life cycle
3. Childbearing Adults
• Rob's wife, Penny, has just given birth to their
first child and named her Becky.
• They are now accepting new member into the
system. They need to make adjustments in their
usual schedules, finances, and duties in order
to care for this new child. They are also needing
to make room for visits and interactions with
their parents in their new role as grandparents.
 Family developmental life cycle
4. Pre school-age Children
• Becky has just entered a preschool and is full
of energy, joy, and curiosity. And, while adored
by her parents, she is also a bit draining. Now
is the time for Rob and Penny to accept the
new personality of their child, adjusting to it in
whatever ways are best. It is also important
that Rob and Penny make efforts to take time
out as a couple - going out together.
 Family developmental life cycle
5. School-age Child
• Becky is 8 years old, and the issue at hand now
is for Rob and Penny to allow their child to
establish relationships outside the family. This
means they give Becky permission to go over to
Megan's house for her birthday party or to have
Miranda over to the house on Saturday. Along
with encouraging social interactions, this time
includes tasks like encouraging the child
educationally and managing increased activities.
 Family Developmental life cycle
6. Teenage Child
• This is a challenging time for Rob and Penny.
Becky is now 15 years old and wanting more
independence. The main issue is then
increasing flexibility of family boundaries to
allow independence. Rob and Penny need to
shift to some degree in their parental role and
provide opportunities for Becky's growth.
 Family developmental life cycle
• 7. Launching / induction period
• This is the time when Becky goes to college
and start living on her own. The issue now is
for the parents to accept exits from and
entries into the family. While Becky leaves
home, she still comes back every several
months to visit, so one of the tasks is to accept
her leaving while also maintaining a
supportive home for her to return.
 Family developmental life cycle
• 8. Middle-aged Adults
• It is a strange feeling for Rob and Penny to be alone
in the house again after all those years. They are
now letting go of children and facing each other
again. Now that their conversations are not focused
on Becky, they are learning to share other things
with each other and building their closeness. Becky
is now 25 and married, so they welcome her back
to their home for visits. The final task to face now is
managing the continued aging and new illnesses
present in Penny's father and Rob's mother.
 Family developmental life cycle
• 9. Retired Adults
• Rob and Penny have just moved to Chipata
because they thought it would be a great
change of pace for their retirement. They are
accepting retirement and old age, which
means they are taking part in tasks like
keeping up their own health, keeping in close
touch with Becky and her family, and dealing
with the grief of losing their parents.
Factors affecting the health of the family

• Biological and age related risks- some illness

have some biological or genetic or life style.
• Environmental health risks
• Behavioral (life style) risks
• Economic risks
 Family Health Care Interventions
• Disease prevention and promotive activities.
• There are three levels of disease prevention:
• Primary Prevention – keeps the disease
process from becoming established by
eliminating causes of disease or increasing
resistance to disease.
 Family Health Care Interventions
• The three components of primary prevention
are:
• 1. Health Promotion – consists of general
non-specific interventions that enhance health
and the body’s ability to resist disease.
• Improvement of socioeconomic status,
provision of adequate food, housing, clothing
and education are examples of health
promotion
 Family care health interventions
• 2. Prevention of exposure to disease eg
disease prevention and control measures which
include provision of safe and adequate water,
proper excreta disposal and vector control.
• 3. Prevention of disease- is the prevention of
disease after the individual has been exposed
to the disease causing factors such as
vaccinations in children are given to prevent
communicable childhood illness
 Family Health Care Intervention
Secondary Prevention – stops or slows the
progression of the disease.
• It also limit or prevents permanent damage.
• Interventions such as early diagnosis eg
screening tests
• Adequate treatment eg ART for positive clients
 Family Health Care Intervention
Tertiary prevention – is targeted towards
people with disability or permanent damage.
• This is done through rehabilitation eg blind or
partially blind, total or partial paralysis after
poliomyelitis, stroke
• Rehabilitation means retraining of the
remaining functions for maximal effectiveness
 Summary
• The session looked at definition of family,
types, family developmental life cycle, family
assessment, role of family in health promotion
and prevention of diseases. Last we talked
about factors influencing health status of
families or determinants of health.
• END OF PRESENTATION
• THANK YOU FOR LISTENING