Refer back to the interview and evaluation you conducted in the Topic 2 Family Health Assessment assignment. Identify the social determinates of health (SDOH) contributing to the family’s health status. In a 750-1,000-word paper, create a plan of action to incorporate health promotion strategies for this family. Include the following:
- Describe the SDOH that affect the family health status. What is the impact of these SDOH on the family? Discuss why these factors are prevalent for this family.
- Based on the information gathered through the family health assessment, recommend age-appropriate screenings for each family member. Provide support and rationale for your suggestions.
Answer
Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) refers to social and economic conditions
responsible for the health of individuals and societies; they are the circumstances under which
people are born, develop, live, work and become old (Artiga & Hinton, 2018) . They are
fashioned by wealth, authority and resources at international, national and local levels which are
influenced by socioeconomic features including policies, beliefs, and societal ethics. SDOH are
responsible for differences in health status between individuals, and within and between
countries. Examples of SDOH include early childhood development, education, employment
conditions, food security, income, gender equality, social norms and attitudes, health systems,
technology, urbanization, and language and literacy.
The interviewed family is affected by several of these SDOH including education,
employment conditions, early childhood development, technology, food security, and social
norms and attitudes. These are evident where the children are all young and school-going and
have been brought up to embrace nutrition and fitness at a young age. They have also embraced
technology using devices such as mobile phones to play games and watching television. The
parents, on the other hand, are both employed and while their employment conditions allow them
to provide for the family, they are required to work extra hours. The parents also go against
social norms by having arguments in front of their children and not attending their events or
spending time with them. Moreover, the family exploits the availability of food to their favor by
going for organic instead of processed foods.
The SDOH positively affect the family since a combination of proper nutrition and
exercise promote the family’s health reducing the chances of acquiring diseases such as heart
diseases and diabetes. Secondly, education for the children will guide them in obtaining more
precise health beliefs and information helping them make better lifestyle choices as well as
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increase their cognitive abilities. Technology will also avail health information to the family
promoting health, together with its implementation in health centers. However, other SDOH
have negative effects including the employment conditions of the parents which limit the amount
of time spent together as a family and hinder the implementation of important family policies
such as a specific bedtime.
Health screenings are essential for all individuals to ensure early detection of diseases
and consistent monitoring of crucial diseases such as diabetes and cancers. The screenings vary
depending on a person’s age and most of them should be conducted annually either in the
hospital or at home (Beaumont, 2018) . The interviewed family can be classified into two
screening age-groups; the children who are all between 10 and 18 years of age and the parents
who are 42 and 46 years respectively. The children are screened for their body weight and
height, blood pressure and cognitive responses. On the other hand, the father should undergo a
testicular exam, the mother a mammogram, and both a full-body scan for apprehensive moles or
skin wounds and a test for blood sugar levels. Before the screening, valid questions are asked
based on their identified SDOH factors and family history. Screening tools such as SDOH
Patient Action Plan, SDOH Long-form screening and SDOH Short-form can be applied when
carrying out the screening.
The Health Belief Model is the best in designing a plan for action to improve the family’s
health. This mode leads individuals to health-promoting activities and presents them with disease
prevention programs. It is also used to describe and calculate individual changes in health
behaviors. Specifically, the Michigan Model for Health can be used to cater to the family’s social
and emotional health challenges as it also promotes the execution of nutrition and exercise
regimes which are important to the family (Rural Health Information Hub, 2017) . Key factors
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influencing health according to the model include perceived vulnerability, perceived severity,
perceived advantages, perceived barriers to actions, cues to action and self-efficacy. The model
will also pay attention to the family’s health beliefs to understand their health behaviors such as
their belief that there is no need for check-ups with proper nutrition and exercise.
The model can be used to scheme a family-specific procedure for health promotion for both short
and long-term intercessions. The steps in the scheme include:
- Conduct a health needs assessment and identify the health-risk factors and the most
vulnerable members of the family. - Explain the results of the assessment to the family including the possible risk factors.
This is done using layman terms to derive perceived severity from the family. - Recommend possible solutions to the family and explain their benefits in clear
unambiguous terms. - Identify any barriers to solutions identified and how to reduce them.
- Illustrate the solutions practically to enhance self-efficacy and increase the possibility of
positive behavior changes.
In conclusion, conducting a family health assessment is important in identifying their
SDOH which are subsequently used to identify the positive and negative aspects of their health
status. Moreover, the SDOH can be used in establishing a screening routine for the family and
isolating the screening tests they should undergo. Lastly, the Health Belief Model is beneficial to
the family as it successfully describes and predicts the family health practices and is
implemented in designing a health promotion plan of action.
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References
Artiga, S., & Hinton, E. (2018). Beyond Health Care: The Role of Social Determinants in
Promoting Health and Health Equity. Kff.org.
Beaumont. (2018). Recommended Health Screenings for all Life’s Stages. Beaumont.org.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Social Determinants of Health. Cdc.gov.
Rural Health Information Hub. (2017). The Health Belief Model. Rural health Info.
World Health Organization. (2015). About Social Determinants of Health. WHO.int.
