THE FAMILY

DEFINITION AND CONCEPTS OF FAMILY

 Basic unit in society, and is shaped by all forces surround it.
 Primary entity of health care or institution responsible for the physical, emotional and social support of
members
 Values, beliefs, and customs of society influence the role and function of the family (invades every
aspect of the life of the family)
 Is a unit of interacting persons bound by ties of blood, marriage or adoption.
 Constitute a single household, interacts with each other in their respective familial roles and create and
maintain a common culture.
 An open and developing system of interacting personalities with structure and process enacted in
relationships among the individual members regulated by resources and stressors and existing within the
larger community (Smith & Maurer, 1995)
 Two or more people who live in the same household (usually), share a common emotional bond, and
perform certain interrelated social tasks (Spradly & Allender, 1996)
 An organization or social institution with continuity (past, present, and future). In which there are certain
behaviors in common that affect each other.

THE FILIPINO FAMILY

 FAMILY – is a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether
dwelling together or not.
 Filipino family is a family of Philippine origin.
 Philippine families exhibit Filipino cultures, customs, traits and values, of which the most important
value is family closeness.

STRUCTURE OF FILIPINO FAMILY

 The typical Filipino family consists of a husband, wife and children, extending to include
grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. This circle is often enlarged with the selection of a
child's godparents.
 The father is acknowledged head of the family. The father commands full authority in the family.
 The mother on the hand is considered be the light of the house (“ilaw ng tahanan”). She is
responsible in all housekeeping activities, taking care of the children, planning of meals, and
budgeting the income of the family.
 The role of the child may depend on whether he is the eldest, middle, the youngest or the only
child.
 The eldest takes charge in helping mothers take care of his siblings.
  The middle child may assume the role of the eldest child.
 The youngest is often the most loved although he is also expected to have his own share in doing
some household chores.
 The youngest always gets the special treatment from his parents.

A. FAMILY AS BASIC UNIT OF THE SOCIETY

 Family Is the Basic Unit of the Society.
 The family is the basic unit of social institutions.
 The family unit has specific functions with relation to its members and to the total society.
 It is the most important social institution, serving as the means of transferring culture from one
stage to another.
 The primary function of the family is to ensure the continuation of society, both biologically
through procreation, and socially through socialization.
a) Family as a Client
 Smallest unit of care, composed of father, mother and children (traditional)
 The family is the primary focus and individuals are secondary.
 Is a small social system and primary reference group made up of two
or more persons living together who are:
 related by blood  adoption
 marriage
 living together by arrangement over a period of time. (Murray and Zentner (1997)
 The focus is concentrated on how the family as a whole is reacting to the event when a family
member experienced a health issue.
b) Family as a System
 Based on the roles within the system, people are expected to
 interact with and respond to one another in a certain way.
 Patterns develop within the system, and each member's behaviors impact the other members in
predictable ways.
 Each part of the system affects each other.
Types of the Family
1. Nuclear /Conjugal Family - father, mother, children (natural or adopted) living in a common
household.
2. Extended /Consanguineous Family - nuclear family + relatives; at least 3 generation.
3. Beanpole Family - 4 or more generations; small number; lives longer.
4. Single parent - either father or mother with children (adopted or biological) no legal attachment.
 5. Stepfamily/Blended/Reconstituted - Separated, divorced, widowed with children + new spouse
(children/relatives).
6. Single state - never married, separated, divorced or widowed individual.
7. Same sex/ homosexual - gay/lesbian +children
8. Cohabiting or communal - Unrelated individuals who live together

TYPES OF FAMILY- LOCUS OF POWER

1. Patri focal/Patriarchal 4. Matricentric
a. man is the main authority; decision a. mother in dominant position/husband
maker is OFW
2. Matrifocal/ Matriarchal 5. Patricentric
a. woman a. father in dominant position/wife is
3. Egalitarian OFW
a. equal

TYPES OF FAMILY- RESIDENCE

1. Patrilocal 4. Neolocal
a. live with the residence of a. resides independently/ Decides on
groom/relatives of groom their own
2. Matrilocal 5. Avunculocal
a. bride’s family a. reside with or near the Maternal
3. Bilocal uncle of the groom
a. either both side

TYPES OF FAMILY –DESCENT

a. Patrilineal c. Bilateral
a. affiliates a person with a group of a. affiliates a person with a group of
relatives through his or her father. relatives through both or his or her
parents
b. Matrilineal
a. affiliates a person with a group of
relatives through his or her mother
FUNCTIONS DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
A. Family Health Task
 Health task differ in degrees from family to family
 TASK- is a function, but with work or labor overtures assigned or demanded of the person
 5 Family Health Tasks (Maglaya, A., 2004)
1. Recognizing interruptions of health development
2. Making decisions about seeking health care/ to take action
3. Dealing effectively health and non-health situations
4. Providing care to all members of the family
5. Maintaining a home environment conducive to health maintenance
Duvall & Niller (1985) identified 8 task essential for a family to function as a unit:
1. Physical maintenance
 provides food shelter, clothing, and health care to its members being certain that a
family has ample resources to provide
2. Socialization of Family
 involves preparation of children to live in the community and interact with people outside the
family.
3. Allocation of Resources
 determines which family needs will be met and their order of priority.
4. Maintenance of Order
5. task includes opening an effective means of communication between family members, integrating
family values and enforcing common regulations for all family members.
6. Division of Labor
 who will fulfill certain roles e.g., family provider, home manager, children’s caregiver
 Reproduction, Recruitment, and Release of family member
 Placement of members into larger society –consists of selecting community activities such as
church, school, politics that correlate with the family beliefs and values
 Maintenance of motivation and morale– created when members serve as support people to
each other.

Family Roles
1. Nurturing figure – primary caregiver to children or any dependent member.
2. Provider – provides the family’s basic needs.
3. Decision maker – makes decisions particularly in areas such as finance, resolution, of conflicts, use of
leisure time etc.
4. Problem-solver – resolves family problems to maintain unity and solidarity.
5. Health manager – monitors the health and ensures that members return to health appointments.
6. Gate keeper – Determines what information will be released from the family or what new information
can be introduced.
B. CHARACTERISTICS OF A HEALTHY FAMILY

a. COMMITMENT.
 It is important that all family members are committed to the family and to each other.
 Husbands and wives who are committed to the marriage have found a major way of keeping the
marriage going.
 It is important that the family comes first over those outside of the family rather than letting
outside activities take prominence over the family, those activities that do should be eliminated.
 Healthy families tend to select activities that promote the family as being important and help the
family to grow closer.

b. TIME TOGETHER.

 Healthy families are ones that spend time together.

 The amount of time is often as important as the activity chosen.
 One important event that is often lacking in many families today is a family meal time. Healthy
families spend this time being together, enjoying a meal and talking about what is going on in
each of their individual lives.
 These families also spend time playing together and doing activities that all of the family
members enjoy doing.
 Healthy families also have created family traditions including celebrating birthdays, holidays and
other important events.

c. COMMUNICATION.
 An important aspect of a healthy family is communication. This involves listening to and
supporting one another.
 It is important for parents to listen to their children as much as they expect their children to listen
to them.
 Communication also involves conflict which is a part of every family.
 The healthy family is able to fight fairly and resolve conflicts that do occur.

d. APPRECIATION
 In healthy families there is an admiration for each other.
 Families respect one another and appreciate what each member of the family contributes.
 The accomplishments of each family member are valued by the others.
 Each family member looks for the good in the rest of the family.

e. SPIRITUALITY
 Although not all of those surveyed were members of a particular church or religion, they still felt
that spirituality was important.
 These families had a sense of spiritual well-being.
 Parents are expected to teach their children right from wrong and present good examples of
behavior for their children.
 It is also important for parents to teach their children how to make moral choices for themselves
as they mature.
f. COPING SKILLS
 Healthy families are able to deal with crisis situations that may occur.
  Crises in families may be small or large, but healthy families are able to find solutions to their
problems.
 They often depend upon one another for the support that they need.
 When healthy families cannot solve their problems, they are willing to go outside of the family
for solutions. (Sale, 2016)

FAMILY NURSING – is the practice of nursing directed towards maximizing the health and well-being of all
individuals, within a family system. (Maurer and Smith, 2009)

 Family Nursing uses the Nursing Process

NURSING PROCESS

 Is the main framework or guide in nursing practice and the means by which nurses work with
client-partners to enhance wellness or address health needs and problems of their clients.
(Maglaya, 2009)

 It is a logical and systematic way of processing information gathered from different sources and
translating intentions into meaningful actions or interventions. (Maglaya, 2009).

 There are five (5) phases: assessment, diagnosis, planning of outcomes and interventions,
implementation and evaluation.