“Family can be defined as a biological entity, as a legal entity, or as a social network with personally constructed ties and ideologies” (Potter, Perry, Ross-Kerr, & Wood, 2006). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact a chronic illness can have on a family’s life and how to best intervene as a nurse. Our paper will be developed by addressing the struggles faced dealing with an Autistic child in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper,& Hallstrom, 1993) and how it affects the family, Calgary Family Assessment Model (CFAM) priorities, Calgary Family Intervention Model (CFIM), and the rationale behind both the movie and CFAM/CFIM. It can be seen through the development of the paper that a chronic illness can cause tension within a family; therefore by developing a therapeutic relationship nurses are able to provide support to these families when facing adversity.
Summary of Chronic Illness in Gilbert Grape
In the film What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (Matalon et. al, 1993) the family is dealing with the chronic illness Autism. “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex developmental disorder that dramatically affects the lives of patients and their families and the broader community.” (Altevogt, Hanson, & Leshner, 2008) Autism controls this family’s physical, psychological and social well-being. “Parents of children with Autism experience a variety of chronic and acute stressors that can erode family functioning.” (Solomon & Chung, 2012). Depicted through the film, Autism can physically strain the family members. Since Arnie is not going to school or working the family needs to take on the extra responsibility of caring for him; therefore, adding to the rest of the tasks they must do on a daily basis. “Oft...
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...ic relationship with the Grape family and providing them with information about these programs and resources that exist, it can help empower them into taking action and work on improving meaningful verbal communication with Arnie and the rest of the family.
In conclusion, “families are as diverse as the individuals that composed them.” (Potter et. al, 2006). This has been discussed through a summarization of Autism in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (Matalon et. al, 1993) and how it affects the family, CFAM priorities, CFIM, and the rationale behind both the movie and CFAM/CFIM. Through the correlation of this development we will incorporate what we have learned into our future practices. Concluded by the development of this paper, nurses are able to alleviate some stress caused by a chronic illness within a family, by creating a trusting and therapeutic relationship.
Giving others who do not suffer from autism or caregivers an insight on how the individual may be feeling and what they are going through. This book can also help numerous medical professionals such as speech-language pathologists and pediatric doctors. As Grandin stated in the book that not all sufferers act, think, and feel the same so this novel may not be beneficial to readers who are looking for information on a wide scale of individuals who suffer from the illness. She also stated that there is no cure for autism, however some medications can help with some symptoms such as depression or anxiety. What intrigued me the most about Grandin was that she never gave up and worked on her social skills. Not only did she became a spokesperson for autism, but also became a professor at Colorado State University in which both require public speaking and being comfortable in front of people.
The movie utilized for this assignment was What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. This movie explored the life of the Grape family consisting of Gilbert, Ellen, Arnie, Bonnie and Amy. (Hallström, Blomquist, Matalon, Ohlsson, Teper 1993). The movie reveals the struggles that the family face while raising Arnie who had a chronic mental illness (Hallström et al., 1993). This paper will discuss the priority concerns and corresponding interventions that are pertinent for the Grape family based on thorough use of the Calgary family assessment model. The focus of this papers assessment on the family will be on the functional aspect; however the structural and developmental aspects have been assessed.
The Grape family lives in Pandora, Iowa. Gilbert a Caucasian young man age 24. The presenting problem is grief and trauma due to father committing suicide. His mom Bonnie was especially affected by Gilbert’s father’s death has become agoraphobic
He is perhaps the posterchild for stress. Stuck at a dead-end job, longing for freedom, but unable to do so because he is the main caregiver for his brother, he does a remarkable job of showing patience when dealing with a developmentally disabled person. However, as a stressed out individual, his relationships tend to suffer, as he is riddled with frustration and thinks very negatively about himself. As the primary caregiver for his younger sibling, this is to be expected. Caregivers of physically or mentally disabled family members are at risk for chronic stress. Spouses who care for a disabled partner are particularly vulnerable to a range of stress-related health threats, including influenza, depression, and heart disease. Caring for a spouse who has even minor disabilities can lead to severe stress (Harvey
Mental illness can have a tremendous effect on not only the individual suffering, but to their family. "Mental illness often has a ‘ripple effect’ on families, creating tension, uncertainty, troubled emotions and big changes in how people live their lives" ("Families and friends"). A family member who suffers from a mental illness can have a great impact on numerous physical, psychological and social aspects of the family. Creating nursing priorities can help to create developmental and behavioral functions of a family to help the family bond and cope with a mental illness. The film “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” by Lasse Hallstrom, portrays a family who struggle to cope with the enormous impact that a mentally challenged child “Arnie” can have on a family. Although the whole family is involved in Arnie’s care, it is clear that Gilbert, Arnie’s older brother, takes on the primary giver role. Throughout the movie, many scenes tend to dramatically show the amount of stress, frustration, aggression, and separation on the family that is ultimately created from Arnies mental illness. In this paper we are going to discuss the impact of chronic illness on the grape family, two family centered priorities we have chosen using the Calgary Family Assessment Model and one nursing intervention for each priority using the Calgary Family Intervention Model.
Families with a member suffering from any illness may be stressful enough but families with members diagnosed with schizophrenia are often faced with additional challenges such as the “external stressors of social stigma, isolation, and emotional frustration”. Many times, family conflicts arise as members attempt to provide care on an everyday basis (Chien, 2010, pg. xi). “A Beautiful Mind” is a brilliant motion picture directed by Ron Howard that chronicles the life of one John Nash, a prominent mathematician and the challenges he endures throughout his adult life afflicted with a chronic mental illness. “A Beautiful Mind” allows us to gain insight into the stressors that many families undergo when faced with living with a person with schizophrenia. This paper will explore the impact of schizophrenia on the lives of the Nash family as depicted in the aforementioned movie. Exploring the impact of the disease on the Nash family’s life will be followed with a discussion regarding an assessment conducted of the family, through the use of the Calgary Family Assessment model. Conducting the assessment allowed us to determine two nursing priorities, and nursing interventions in relation to them through the use of the Calgary intervention model. Essentially it becomes evident that the challenges faced by the Nash family are in the functional domain. The families inability to effectively communicate and problem solve becomes evident, which is negatively impacting the families ability to function effectively. Our nursing interventions guided by the Calgary Nursing Intervention Model will focus on providing the Nash family with the support needed to bring about change in the affective domain in foster effective communication with the famil...
Kaakinen, Gedaly-Duff, Coehlo & Hanson, (2010) report family is the biggest resource for managing care of individuals with chronic illness; family members are the main caregivers and provide necessary continuity of care. Therefore, it is important for health care providers to develop models of care based on an understanding what families are going through (Eggenberger, Meiers, Krumwiede, Bliesmer, & Earle, 2011). The family I chose to interview is in the middle of a transition in family dynamics. I used the family as a system approach as well as a structure-function theoretical framework to the effects of the changes in dynamic function. Additionally, the combinations of genogram, ecomap, adaptations of the Friedman Family Assessment model as well as Wright & Leahey’s 15 minute family interview were utilized.
Parent-child intervention programs are another use for the theory. Children learn from experiences based on their home life. “Children’s strategies for managing emotions, resolving disputes, and engaging with others are learned from experience and carried forward across setting and time. For younger children especially, the primary source of these experiences is the parent–child and family relationship environment” (O’Connor, Matias, Futh, Tantam & Scott, 2013).Young children witness much of their learned behaviors from their parents. By intervening at an early age to help change some of the parents behaviors children will then learn new responses to situations. Children who are victims of domestic abuse can see videos or models portraying
Once upon a time, my best friend, Bryan Martinez, often heard his mother’s medical conversations with friends. One day at school, our teacher confronted Mrs. Martinez and told her that she was able tell that Bryan was a son from a nurse. Apparently there was an incident at school where a little boy was acting out and Bryan told our teacher that the little boy was agitated, and to give him some medication to calm him down. As demonstrated by Bryan, nursing is ongoing profession that promotes the health and well-being of individuals.
Also, the whole family needs to come to term with the health condition, make change in priorities and schedule, and keep the family. For example, it can be much more stressful for a young or a newly married couple because they may have more experience to overcome life's difficulties. As a result, as with individual maturation, family development can be delayed or even revert to a previous level of functioning (Hockenberry, p 762.) Therefore, health care providers need to apply family development theory while planning care for a child and family with chronic health condition. Indeed, family centered care should be a part of that intervention. Parents and family members have huge and comprehensive caregiving responsibilities for their chronically ill child at home or at hospital. Moreover, the main goal taking care of chronic ill child is to “minimize the progression of the disease and maximize the child’s physical, cognitive, psychological potential” (Hockenberry, p 763). Therefore, it is essential to family being part of the child care to give highest quality of care. On the other hand, we are as a part of the health care provider need to give attention to all
Autism, or a disorder of social and functional challenges (‘Facts about ASD’), affects about 1 in every 68 children in the world today (‘Facts about ASD’). More than 3.5 million Americans have some form of the disorder, although autism only takes up 1 percent of the world (‘Facts and Statistics’). The cause of autism has not yet appeared to scientists, but they have developed different ways of living for the mother to do before she gets pregnant, after she gets pregnant and after the baby’s birth to prevent autism arising in a child (‘Can Autism Be Prevented?’). Autism robs children and adults of the rights they have to walk, talk, and think like normal humans do every single day. My personal experience with autism showed me what the condition
Family health is receiving substantial attention in the contemporary decades, following a growing number of unpredicted health issues. Family health assessments have become common techniques within the health care systems across the world to promote good health. Nursing Family assessment and intervention models have been developed in to assists nurses and families to identify the family issues and develop the best.
"The Affects of Autism in Families and in Partner Relationships - Autism College." Autism College. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
My journey to nursing began with my personal healthcare experience, and has continued to evolve since entering the nursing program at State University. My personal philosophy of nursing is related my life experience and my personal philosophy of life. Using reflection-on-action, I have begun to understand the influences that have lead me to nursing. I discovered client and family centered care to be an important quality when I look at the influential nurses in my life. To develop a positive therapeutic nurse-client relationship, nurses must integrate all 5 dimensions of the therapeutic nurse-client relationship into their practice (CNO, 2006). When it comes to providing client-centered care, the dimensions of trust, empathy and respect are particularly important (CNO, 2006). Illness can be a traumatic experience for patients and their families, and it is important to be empathetic to the patient’s needs, while still trusting the patient to be an expert in their illness and care.
In health care, there are many different approaches throughout the field of nursing. When considering the field of family nursing, there are four different approaches to caring for patients. This paper will discuss the different approaches along with a scenario that covers that approach. The approaches that will be discussed include family as a context, family as a client, family as a system, and family as a component to society. Each of these scenarios are approach differently within the field of nursing.